2019 April/May
Pg 8 - The Sunshine Express
Home & Garden
Stunning new styles in flowers and plants
for your garden
(BPT) Today¡¯s plant lovers want more than the
traditional flowers to enhance their home.
Rather, people want to enjoy the experience of
getting in touch with nature, while also looking for
unique flowers and plants to add a more creative,
personal touch of color and inspiration to their
yards.
This year, gardens will be more visually interest-
ing, environmentally friendly and demonstrate the
love and care provided by the families who tend
them.
Here are a few of the latest gardening ideas you
and your loved ones can enjoy from Ball Horticul-
tural Company.
Gardening as an experience
Detoxing from our daily dependence on digital
distractions and tech gadgets is becoming not just
a desire, but a necessity.
What better way for you and your loved ones to
take a break from screens than to spend time with
plants, creating beauty, serenity and even a nutri-
tious lifestyle?
Make the process a group effort: from going to
your favorite garden center and choosing your
veggies, to caring for them and watching them
grow, then harvesting and eating, the full experi-
ence shared together with others is something
special to enjoy.
Plant and grow veggies like the Snackabelle Red
Pepper, a mini bell pepper that starts out green,
then ripens red, with a rich, sweet flavor - perfect
to have at home for snacking as well as cooking.
If you love natural fragrances, Lavender Blue
Spear is a wonderful choice. They are easy to
grow, and will achieve a height of nearly a foot.
You can use the fresh lavender to make infused
oil, soap, hand scrubs or bath salts.
New color choices
Look for unexpected colors to help you make a
statement with your containers, window boxes or
indoor potted plant garden this year.
Striking new colors include the 2019 Pantone color
tones, like the bright and colorful Ornamental
Pepper, with such attractive multi-colored fruits
that they are grown just for show.
The Ornamental Pepper displays intense shades
of yellows, oranges and reds in its fruit.
Other flowers catch the eye with dynamic tex-
ture, such as the lovely Double PinkTastic
Calibrachoa, a fully double flower with a dark
pink eye and lighter pink petals.
Its burst of blooms will cover the plant and spill
over their containers, window boxes or hanging
baskets.
Easy options for beginning gardeners
New gardeners who want choices beyond tradi-
tional flower options have great alternatives this
year.
If you¡¯re looking for plants that are durable and
colorful, the Echinacea Sombrero Tres Amigos
produces a deer-resistant perennial flower that
is highly attractive to butterflies and songbirds.
Tres Amigos shows three colors, opening as a
peachy-orange color, then aging to rose and
fading to burgundy.
A great way to fill large spaces quickly is the
attention-getting Big Blue Salvia, with spires
that continuously bloom from July into the fall,
with little care needed.
Choices Beyond Traditional
of the year, ¡®Living Coral¡¯, seen in the
Gerbera Revolution Salmon Shades potted
flower, also known as the African Daisy.
Gerbera plants are easy to care for and
provide great indoor decor, which also makes
them perfect choices for gift giving.
New Tattoo Vinca looks like a work of art,
with gorgeous petals showing modern colors,
swirled with soft strokes of black that make
each petal look inked.
The Tattoo Vinca is not only low-mainte-
nance and heat-tolerant, but will attract
pollinators like bees and butterflies to your
garden.
The Double Zahara Bright Orange Zinnia is
another great choice for head-turning color.
Its double flowers bloom in vivid orange, and
they are suitable for landscaping and con-
tainer planting. This flower is also a breeze
to care for and pollinator-friendly.
Or you can choose a unique plant with warm