Plant Trends

Reliable favorites, new introductions, and trends to watch.   A  new year means new plantings. What are the most popular favorites? What will “wow” your clients? What will be resilient in 2022’s as-yet unknown weather extremes? What might be in short supply? Here are some answers. 2021 Favorites First, let’s take a look at 2021’s most popular landscape plant choices. GoMaterials, which sources plants and trees for landscapers, analyzed their over 600,000 plant units specified last year. They then broke down the top choices of landscapers by region and type of plant. Here were landscaper favorites in Northern regions: Evergreens: white spruce, Norway spruce, emerald green arborvitae, and American arborvitae. Perennials: reblooming daylily, anise hyssop, Canadian anemone (or windflower), and big blue lilyturf. Shrubs: red twig dogwood, winter gem boxwood, goldflame spirea, and smooth hydrangea. Trees: common hackberry, red maple, maidenhair ginkgo biloba, and American linden. Here were landscaper favorites in Southern regions: Evergreens: slash pine, bald cypress, yew pine, and Japanese garden juniper. Palm Trees (in Florida and Texas): Florida royal palm, cabbage palm, needle palm, and European fan palm. Perennials: super blue liriope, softstem bulrush, and flax lily. Shrubs: Chinese privet, green island ficus, cocoplum, and new gold lantana. Trees: large-flowered magnolia, gumbo-limbo, dahoon holly, and southern live oak. New Winning Introductions As to new 2022 introductions that may one day become old favorites, look to the winners of All-America Selections (AAS). A non-profit, AAS conducts confidential and impartial trials each year of new, not-yet-introduced annuals, ornamentals, perennials, ...