Welcome to our first edition of Jason’s Journal!

We are excited to have the chance to share your passion for gardening and look forward to hearing which topics you would like us to cover as we offer our knowledge and insights. This blog gives us a chance to highlight our love for gardening in a longer format than we can with a social media post or an email. We’ll take a deep dive into gardening in our region, tips for maintaining your landscape, and industry insight into what plants, products, and trends you will see coming your way in the near future.

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Which leads us to this, our first subject! New Plants for 2026.

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Each year, our lead garden team travels to Cultivate in Columbus, Ohio. Sponsored by the leading national association for the green industry, AmericanHort,

Cultivate is one place we gather info about new plant releases, the latest in garden planning, meet new vendors, and hear the latest trends. We attend seminars by industry leaders and gather knowledge to bring back and share with you, our customers – our fellow garden-lovers. So we thought – what better subject for our first-ever Jason’s Journal but to share with you the insights we gained from the most recent Cultivate event.

One of our top plant vendors is Proven Winners. For over 30 years, they have been an industry leader, and we are proud to say they chose The Gardens at Elder’s as a Proven Winners Destination for plants. I sit on a committee with their plant developers as a customer representative, sharing thoughts and knowledge throughout the year about the plants they send to put in my own garden. It’s an honor to be one of the first gardeners who have a chance to try out a new line in a real-world environment.

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At Cultivate, I had a chance to walk the show with Jessica DeGraaf from PW as she shared with me a few new plant varieties and colors, as well as some of the ‘PW Plants of the Year’ for 2026.

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First, the ‘2026 Petunia Of the Year.’ Jessica told me that while Petunias are the number one annual that Proven Winners sells, this is actually the First year that they’ve named a ‘Petunia of the Year.’ That’s why they are so excited to feature the Supertunia® Hoopla® Vivid Orchid™. Years ago, petunias were only found in solid colors, and one of the things they heard was that gardeners love bi-colors or two-tone flowers. So the Hoopla offers just that with a dramatic white margin, a bright purple fill, and finally a white internal with purple veining. This plant is a great option in both landscapes and in mixed containers. You might remember the Vista Bubble Gum of past seasons. It’s a wilder plant that spreads two or three feet, whereas the Hoopla Vivid Orchid is a little more refined and compact with a nice mounded habit. This color works really well with yellows in a container, and it loves the Sun.

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One thing to remember about Supertunias is that they love to be fed. I use the Proven Winners water soluble fertilizer weekly along with a slow release fertilizer– other brands will work but lean towards some sort of bloom booster. You just about can’t over-fertilize this plant; it’s like it says, “Feed me, and I’ll be fabulous!”

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We then moved on to the ‘2026 Annual of the Year’ – Safari® Dusk™ Jamesbrittenia hybrid. For those who are familiar with Sutera, Jamesbrittenia is similar, but it has higher heat and humidity tolerance – perfect for our region – and is also drought-tolerant and deer-resistant. Safari Dust is stunning with a purple bloom and yellow eye zone. It’s dramatic in mixed containers and hanging baskets. Jamesbrittenia was initially introduced over 30 years ago, but that version was susceptible to powdery mildew, and PW has eliminated that issue with this new version.

We at The Gardens are big fans of the Supertunia, and this year, PW has released a new color to the family: Supertunia Vista® Cool Jazz™. The Supertunia Vistas have unbelievable garden performance; they spread well and flower from frost to frost, but the best thing about this new Cool Jazz is its color. It’s a soft, gorgeous lavender that works amazingly in mixed recipes, complementing colors like Jazzberry well. The blooms of Vista Cool Jazz are slightly smaller than previous Vistas, but they make up for that in the quantity of buds on the plant.

We also talked about Supertunia® Pink Tiara™ and Supertunia® Blue Tiara™. These were introduced in 2025 but were a super star in my Garden. Tiara Pink is a workhorse. I planted a 4” plant in a 24” pot last spring, and it spread across the top, down the sides, and touched the ground. After cutting back and fertilizing it repeated the same performance before the end of the season.. Tiara Blue is  a bit smaller than the pink if you need a more controlled habit. If you want to mix it, I suggest planting one pink in the center of a pot with three blues around it. Another idea might be to plant the Tiara Blue Supertunia with a Calliope Red Geranium and a Mini Vista White Supertunia, in celebration of the USA's 250th birthday! Just a thought. I am already inspired!...Stay tuned for pics!

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And finally, we took a look at two new caladiums for 2026 from Proven Winners. Heart to Heart® Midnight Oil and Crème Brûlée.

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Jessica told me that these plants work well in our environment because over 65% of them are grown in Florida nurseries, where they are exposed to full sun. So they can handle our southern sun better than you would think.

Heart to Heart®, Midnight Oil features a gorgeous maroon and burgundy, along with black and dark greens. The plant's texture almost has an oil-slick look. And again, amazingly, the dark color still works well in the full sun. It would be a great backdrop to be underplanted with Mini-Vista White Superunias for a dramatic look.

Then there is the new Heart to Heart® Crème Brulee Caladium. It features a warm, two-tone color with a pink-to-pale, light green. This gorgeous plant will take some sun, but it would work best in a location that features morning sun and afternoon shade. Think about how this will look for fall as well!

That gives you a little insight into just a few of the new plants and colors arriving this Spring at The Gardens at Elder’s from Proven Winners. Look for more info from our trip to Cultivate in our next blog, and thanks so much for reading! Let's Plant! Remember to share this blog with your gardening-loving friends and let us know in the comments below what you would like to learn more about from our team.

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