Highlights for 2009 include Agapanthus orientalis 'Baby Pete' PPAF, a Monrovia exclusive. Baby Pete was chosen for its compact habit and much longer bloom period due to its almost seedless trait. A new African Iris is a Monrovia exclusive; Dietes x 'NOLA alba' KatrinaTM PPAF, a stronger growing, hardier, more floriferous variety that is far less susceptible to crown rot than other Dietes, making the plant a winner for the South and South East.
The latest Flower Carpet® rose is the much-awaited 'Amber'. The name reflects the color of the flower when in full bloom, fading to a seashell pink, just beautiful. And here's the big bonus, Amber is the first fragrant Flower Carpet®, this new introduction has all the markings of a winner.
This stunning variety has silver-blue foliage, accented by graceful, cascading, fan-shaped branches. It is a robust conifer growing 30 to 40 feet tall and 15 to 18 feet wide. Full sun to partial shade.
Santa's Delight has extraordinary variegated, shiny foliage with a deep blue-green center with a wide creamy-white margin, changing to a pink tone in fall. Bright red berries complement its striking foliage and persist well into the winter season. Selected from a row of Ilex aquifolium in Northern Ohio, it is a proven winter survivor where similar varieties have failed. An evergreen shrub, it will develop a pyramidal shape and grow 10- to 12-feet tall by six-to eight-feet wide.
Itoh Peony Collection Those who admire the colorful and exotic flowers of tree peonies, put prefer the perennial growing cycle of its herbaceous counterpart, will love the Itoh peonies, also known as intersectional hybrids. In the quest to create a true yellow herbaceous peony, Toichi Itoh, in 1948, was the first to successfully cross a tree Peony (P. lemoinei) with an herbaceous (garden) Peony (P. lactiflora.) Other breeders followed in his footsteps, creating new varieties of stunning color, combining the best traits from both parents. However, these great plants were slow to multiply and far too expensive thus unaffordable to many to become well known by the gardening public. Some divisions were selling for $1,000 each.
This all changed in 2004 when a Canadian tissue culture laboratory discovered the closely guarded secret to produce Itoh peonies in vitro. Monrovia, adept at bringing unique and hard to propagate plants to market, partnered with this laboratory to introduce an assortment of Itoh peonies.
Itoh peonies resemble tree peonies with a domed, vigorous growth habit and large double flowers with disease-resistant lacy, dark green foliage. Like herbaceous peonies, the Itoh hybrids are winter dormant providing decades of enjoyment in the garden. Itoh peonies can provide up to 50 blooms in a single season due to their ability to produce primary and secondary buds. They will grow two to three feet tall and wide. They offer an increased color range, greater vigor, and excellent resistance to peony blight (botrytis paeoniae).
'Kopper Kettle' has large eight-inch, copper-orange, semi-double flowers with a darker center and occasional yellow streaks in the petals to add to the beauty of these blooms. With its distinct flower color and handsome dark green foliage, this brilliant beauty is a showstopper!
This dynamic cultivar is hailed for its dense, compact, symmetrical growth habit. In early spring, this upright deciduous tree is a cloud of pure white flowers. It has glossy, dark green leaves with brilliant, crimson-red fall foliage and &frac34;-inch yellow-green fruit. Preferring full sun it will grow 15 feet tall by 10 feet wide and is ideal as a low maintenance street tree or small-scale specimen plant. Jack is disease resistant and ideal for urban gardens.
Monrovia is one of the world's largest producers of container grown plants, with more than 2,000 different varieties. Since it was founded in 1926 by Harry E. Rosedale, the company has introduced hundreds of patented plants, more than 200 of which are Monrovia exclusives. Monrovia plants are shipped to independent garden centers nationwide from its nurseries in Visalia and Venice Hills, Calif., Dayton, Ore., LaGrange, N.C. and Cairo, Ga. Throughout its history, Monrovia has pioneered many new technologies and new plant introductions. It remains a family owned entity. To find the nearest garden center that carries Monrovia plants, visit monrovia.com.