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This year we have some great varieties we are introducing, check them out: |
Geranium BIG ORANGE™ Hanging Basket
Now gardeners have a reason to fall in love with geraniums all over again! ‘Big Orange’ Geranium is a hot, new cross of zonal and ivy geraniums, combining the best traits of both. And unlike other geraniums, ‘Big Orange’ won’t get its color squeezed out as summer temperatures begin to rise… definitely a geranium that’s hard to beat for beds, baskets and borders.
Geranium BIG RED™ Hanging Basket
A true red geranium has long been a goal for geranium breeders the world over. VIVA! is excited to bring you the best new true red geranium ever hybridized. The color is a great achievement, but the other important attributes that add to its glory are its tolerance for heat and drought, its heavy flowering, and the vigor that sustains these attributes. Enjoy Big Red in flower beds, baskets, window boxes, or mixed containers gardens.
Geranium TexMex Hanging Basket
VIVA! TexMex is one hot tamale! Some Geraniums will whimper in the heat of the summer, but TexMex will keep going strong. This new bi-colored geranium has fiery hot red and pink blooms with dark foliage which will add hot color to your garden. Will do well in planters and window boxes, as well as garden beds. Makes a strong border plant.
Crème Brûlée™ Petunia Hanging Basket
Creamy custard with a sugary caramelized crust describes a mouth-watering color addition for flower beds! Petunia ‘Crème Brûlée’ offers new opportunities for color mixes with other plants. With a blooming season that is much longer than regular petunias. You can enjoy ‘Crème Brûlée’ in flower beds, baskets, window boxes, or mixed containers gardens.
Learn more here
inc-RED-ible™ Petunia Hanging Basket
RED flowers that brighten containers as well as borders? RED petunia blooms that continue to blossom through the entire growing season? Flowers not affected by day-length means you can have the rich RED color of petunias earlier than ever? Vibrant, ruby-RED tones on a petunia that blooms from early spring through fall…now “that’s inc-RED-ible”!
Lemon Zest™ Petunia Hanging Basket
Zesty lemon-yellow color • Adds highlight and sparkle to your garden • Easy to grow with nice mounded shape. Petunias are heavy feeders so add some extra time-released plant food. Interplant with orange osteo or marigolds for a fun basket.
Orange Zest™ Petunia Hanging Basket
Now there’s a new petunia with all of the energy, gusto, and color of tree-ripened oranges. ‘Orange Zest’ Petunias will spice up the garden with a bounty of tangerine-colored blooms with mounds of color. Use in patio planters, baskets, window boxes, or borders. Remember to keep well fed and juicy blossoms will refresh the yard from Spring through Fall.
Rhythm & Blues™ Petunia Hanging Basket
While America’s favorite bedding plant may have ancestors from Argentina, new ‘Rhythm & Blues’ Petunia brings a funky soul bounce to the garden. Striking picotee edging surrounds jazzy blue flowers on compact plants. Easy to care for. Use in mixed containers, borders and baskets.
VIVA! SunPatiens – Finally! An impatiens for Full Sun!
SunPatiens are as easy to care for as they are beautiful. Unlike other impatiens, SunPatiens take full, alll-day sun and will bloom all season from spring right through to a light frost. They also perform well in garden beds, in mass plantings or in large patio pot.
Vinca - Super Vinca™ Hanging Basket
New breeding has made Super Vinca truly superhero-tough in the garden. Finally, a Vinca that can survive without getting mushy in the rain like common flowering Vinca. Use in all your sunny and hot locations in the garden and on the patio. Add mulch to Vinca beds to reduce watering and splash. The new trailing variety of SuperVinca will be available in hanging baskets this season!
Here are a few tricks we use to keep our patio planters and baskets looking great all year.
First – there is no such thing as an ugly puppy or a bad flower combination. Plant colors and shapes that you like and enjoy. We tend to like to mix heights and textures – but if you prefer the basket to just have one item in it that is great. If you decide later to change it – that is all part of gardening.
Second – plant it is a full or as light as you want. Years ago we tended to plant just a few items into each patio pot – and give everything room to grow while the past few years the rule of thumb is to stuff as many flowers in as you can. Both will be fine – you may have to ‘thin’ down the stuffed patio planter before too long and your well spaced planting will take a little time to fill out – but both are fine – it is all about what you like.
Third – use a good potting mix and time release plant foods. The potting mix is critical – you can get by with ‘just’ garden soil but that tends to be too heavy and it may dry unevenly. Patio planters and baskets dry out quickly as they getting baked by the sun and dried by the wind. We prefer a well draining potting mix that will dry out uniformly and handle the frequent watering that needs to happen with patio pots. Also, because the plants are always getting watered the plants foods tend to wear out very fast – they ‘leech away’. The ideal combo in our book is the following:
- Use a fluffy potting soil with good water and air movement.
- Use a time release plant food such as Osmocote® and mix into the soil as you plant.
- During the growing season use a liquid water based plant food such as Miracle-Gro® every few weeks.
- Yes – you can reuse your potting soil after winter. You want to make sure it is still ‘fluffy’ and allows water through it. If water puddles on top of the soil it is time to get fresh potting soil. It is better to use fresh every year if you can– just throw your old soil onto your veggie garden or flower beds.