Grow what works! Here are the 2023 Proven Winners National Plants of the Year:
2023 Perennial of the Year
Dolce® ‘Wildberry’ Coral Bells
Heuchera hybrid
Get a splash of purple in your garden! Large, scalloped, incredibly glossy leaves are a bold shade of purple. Charcoal veins accent the leaves. Dark stems hold rosy pink calyxes and white flowers.
2023 Hosta of the Year
Shadowland® ‘Empress Wu’
Hosta hybrid
The largest known hosta available! This massive plant forms a gigantic upright mound of huge, thick, dark green leaves topped with pale reddish violet flowers. It will make a fantastic statement in your shade garden!
2023 Flowering Shrub of the Year
Let’s Dance Can Do!® Reblooming hydrangea
Hydrangea macrophylla × serrata
One look at Let’s Dance Can Do hydrangea tells you it’s beautiful – but there’s more to this innovative new hydrangea than that. It has the unique ability to create flower buds along the entire length of the stem instead of only at the top like other big-leaf hydrangeas. That means that even if winter does its worst and kills back a portion of the plant, there will still be flower buds to open in early summer. It’s also what makes Let’s Dance Can Do hardy to USDA zone 4 – not only will it survive in such a cold area, it will actually bloom there!
2023 Hydrangea of the Year
Limelight Prime® Panicle Hydrangea
Hydrangea paniculata
The next generation of ‘Limelight’ is here! Introducing Limelight Prime® hydrangea. Here’s how Limelight Prime hydrangea is different: It blooms much earlier, creating a longer display. This is especially valuable in colder climates, where ‘Limelight’ might not bloom until late August. It has bolder, brighter color. As the green blooms age, they develop pink and red tones that are far more vivid and showy than conventional panicle hydrangeas. It also has stronger stems to hold its big blooms up all summer long.
2023 Rose of the Year
Ringo All-Star™ Rose
Rosa x
When you’re this colorful, you only need five petals for big impact! The pleasing flowers of Ringo All-Star rose may look simple at first, but this plant packs in a lot of interest. The flowers start out a rich melon-orange with a cherry-red center. As each one ages, it transforms to lavender and pink, creating a look of multiple colors on one plant. A crown of fluffy yellow anthers bedecks the center and attracts pollinators.
2023 Landscape Shrub of the Year
Purple Pillar® Rose of Sharon
Hibiscus syriacus
You’ve never seen a rose of Sharon like this before! Purple Pillar® is a totally unique rose of Sharon: it naturally grows as a narrow column instead of a wide, spreading plant. It gets to be just 4-5′ (1.2-1.5 m) wide and 10-16′ tall! Think of what you could do with that: screens, hedges, patio containers. Anywhere you need a little privacy and/or color in a narrow space, this plant is a great choice. Like most all hibiscus, it will do best in full sun. It is hardy to USDA Zone 5.