(BPT) - Each year, new plants and trends help novice and experienced gardeners meet the moment — bringing innovative color palettes, renewed purpose and improved functionality to outdoor spaces everywhere. For anyone looking to the latest trends to plan their growing season, the experts at Ball Horticultural Company share tips to make this year's garden spaces better than ever.
1. Keeping it classy with Pantone's Color of The Year
The tastemakers at PANTONE selected its first-ever shade of white as Color of the Year: Cloud Dancer. This soft, pale hue offers a blank canvas, and a sense of calm gardeners everywhere can appreciate. With this trend in mind, incorporate crisp, white blooms to bring elegance to any garden or patio space, like these flower choices:
Angelonia Archangel White provides huge, stunning orchid-like flowers that thrive in extreme heat and humidity all summer. Consider combining with red and blue flowers for an outstanding patriotic mix for America's 250th birthday.
Begonia Hula White is a unique, fast-spreading option to elevate landscape beds, or to trail from decorative baskets with their crisp white blossoms. This variety blooms from early spring through fall, and is also drought tolerant and low maintenance, making it a great choice for anyone wanting an easy way to achieve maximum visual impact.
Buddleia Chrysalis White features an abundance of fragrant, pure white flowers with continuous blooming from early spring through late summer. These drought-tolerant flowers will attract butterflies and other pollinators to your small garden or outdoor containers.
2. Garden with a (multi) purpose
Today's plants are designed to do more, combining bold colors, pollinator appeal and versatility across a range of garden spaces. By choosing plants that serve multiple functions, gardeners can create outdoor spaces that are not only beautiful, but also hardworking and easy to maintain. Consider these standout options:
Sedum Spectacular delivers on both form and function, with bright chartreuse-green foliage that adds color from the start and flowers in its first year. Its sturdy structure makes it ideal for patios and landscapes alike, while late-summer blooms attract bees, bringing both visual interest and ecological benefit.
Rudbeckia Suntacular is a standout zone 5 perennial Black-Eyed Susan. It pairs bold, bicolor blooms with a tall, structured habit that adds height and impact. Suntacular is low maintenance, deer resistant and pollinator-friendly, offering late-season color with minimal effort.
Zinnia Elegant™ Hot Mixture offers an easy way to revive any garden with its eye-catching blend of warm colors like pink, orange, scarlet and rose. This mix quickly decorates any size container or garden bed, with sun-loving pollinator-friendly blooms that are especially popular for children's gardens.
3. Garden anywhere with space-friendly flowers
Gardeners with limited space may worry their options are limited, too. The good news is several varieties can thrive in contained spaces, while still producing beautiful color that makes a strong statement, bringing patios, balconies or small beds to life.
Dahlia Venti™ PinkBurst and FireBurst pack a big punch of color in a plant that thrives in patio containers. This vigorous dahlia series offers vibrant core colors on double blooms, making it a top pick for small-space gardens or containers.
Tomato Sugar Basket Red is a standout cherry tomato with bright fruit and flavor, and its trailing habit makes it ideal for hanging baskets, balconies, or window boxes. Also available in orange, this tomato thrives with regular watering and well-drained soil, producing handfuls of fruit.
Salvia Mystical™ Blue is an upright, narrow plant with vivid, dense purple-blue flowers that work well in compact spaces like containers, offering strong color contrast to other plants. This plant is also drought-tolerant, pollinator-friendly and sun-loving.
4. Time to unwind
Outdoor spaces should be sanctuaries for relaxation, so choosing low-maintenance plants can help take the stress out of gardening. These easy-care varieties are ideal for any patio or garden, as they are resilient and adapt well to a range of conditions, giving gardeners more time to simply enjoy their space.
Impatiens Beacon® Blue Pearl brings vibrant color to shaded outdoor spaces with large, showy lavender petals and a soft, pearlescent sheen. With high resistance to Impatiens downy mildew, it's a reliable choice for low-maintenance shade gardens.
All-America Selections (AAS) Award Winner Patty Pan Squash Green Lightning™ offers both beauty and function, producing early, highly productive harvests. Known for its vivid, green-striped coloration, this squash delivers tender, flavorful fruit that can be baked, sauteed, fried or grilled.
Spreading Petunia Easy Wave® Pink Pearl is part of the most versatile petunias in the Wave family. It doesn't require deadheading to flower, and it performs in any sunny location. Pink Pearl features soft, pearly blooms with violet-rose veining that stand out in hanging baskets or containers. Its light pink hue pairs easily with a range of colors to customize any garden.
Gardening is a fun and healthy activity for anyone, and these trends make it easy to create colorful, lively outdoor spaces that feel low-stress, no matter the size of the space. It's also a family-friendly hobby, supported by a strong community of resources, from fellow gardeners to local garden retail centers and beyond. Find more garden inspiration for this year's growing season at www.BallHort.com.
