by Connie Oswald Stofko
A new frost-tolerant annual called Inticancha will be available at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses in Williamsville.
“You can put it out in mid-April in containers or even in ground beds,” said Mark Yadon, vice president of Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses. “It’s nice to get that kind of color a month ahead of time.
“It’s nice to extend the gardening season, too. Here in Buffalo, that’s kind of important.”
The Inticancha series is a dwarf alstromeria that grows between 12 and 24 inches tall. While pot alstomeria have been grown for a few years, this is a new series.
“It’s compact and very floriferous,” Yadon said. “It’s just a dense ball of color.”
With Easter as late as it is this year (April 24), he notes that the Inticancha will make a good gift plant.
“You can have it inside, then put it outside,” he said.
Mischler’s will have Inticancha available in 7 1/2-inch pots and in mixed containers. The plants need sun to part shade and should be spaced 18 inches apart.
Mischler’s is growing four colors: white pink blush, sunlight (yellow), purple and dark purple.
Mischler’s will start selling frost tolerant plants the first two weeks of April.
“The list of frost tolerant annuals has gotten bigger and bigger every year,” Yadon said. “You don’t have to worry about frost or snow on them. When we use them in containers, we actually guarantee that if they’re damaged or die because of the cold, we’ll replace them.”
Frost tolerant annuals grow through the summer.
“They may go out of flower a bit in the middle of the summer, but the heat won’t kill them,” Yadon said. They continue to flourish into the autumn.
Yadon noted that Mischler’s planted window boxes for their building last year on April 15. The plants grew throughout the summer. When the boxes were taken down a week before Thanksgiving, the plants were still flowering.
“They’re a great value,” he said.
Here are two lists of frost-tolerant annuals from Mischler’s organized in different ways to help you find what you are looking for.
| NAME | GROWING HABIT |
COLOR |
| Bidens | trailing | yellow | |||||||||
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| Calibrachoea | trailing | white, pink, red, orange, yellow, blue, purple | |||||||||
| Lamium | trailing | dark green and silver w/pink flowers | |||||||||
| Patio Verbena | trailing | white, pink, red, purple | |||||||||
| Phlox | trailing | white, pink, purple | |||||||||
| Creeping Jenny | trailing | light green (non-flowering accent plant) | |||||||||
| Nemisia, Diashia | trailing or compact | small white, pink, purple | |||||||||
| Petunia | trailing or compact | white, pink, red, blue, purple | |||||||||
| Gaura | compact, upright | pink | |||||||||
| Pansy | compact | white, red, yellow, orange, light blue, dark blue, purple | |||||||||
| Viola | compact | yellow, orange, purple | |||||||||
| Dusty Miller | compact, upright | silver (non-flowering accent plant) | |||||||||
| Argeranthemum | upright | white, pink, orange, yellow, purple | |||||||||
| Osteospermem Daisy | upright | white, pink, orange, yellow, purple | |||||||||
| Salvia | upright | pink, red, orange, yellow | |||||||||
| Carex | upright, grass | orange, bronze (non-flowering accent plant) |
Thriller, Filler and Spiller List
CENTER HEIGHT
CAREX ORANGE SEDGE
CAREX BROWN SEDGE
CAREX BOWELS GOLDEN
PERENIAL GRASSES
SALVIA BLACK AND BLUE
AGYRANTHEMUM DAISY (MARGERETE DAISY)
EURYOPS-MARGARITA AMARILLA
GUARA
TRAILING PLANTS
VIOLINA TRAILING VIOLAS
CALIBRACHOA (MILLION BELLS)
LAMIUM
DIASCIA
PHLOX
PETUNIA (WITHOUT VEINS)
VERBENA
BIDENS-DIOSA DORADA
LYSAMACHIA-CREEPING JENNY
VOLUMINOUS, FLOWERING
PRIMROSE
PANSY
OSTEOSPERMUM DAISY
NEMESIA
DIANTHUS
ACCENT FOLIAGE
HEUCHERA
SEDUM
DUSTY MILLER
Fredi,
Great ideas for using frost tolerant perennials! I’ll do my best to keep you posted on what’s new!
Kirsten,
Isn’t this exciting? I had pansies in my window boxes and enjoyed them until they got covered with heavy snow and I couldn’t see them anymore.
Thanks for the tip on cutting back nemesia during the summer. I’ll keep that one in mind!
Sure have been waiting for this type of plant! I am thinking for putting in urns at the cemetery as well as outside, flanking my doorways. So hungary for early color and bloom….keep these intros coming!
Wow, this is exciting. I just pulled the ornamental cabbage out of my window boxes because they weren’t looking pretty any more. Now I only have to wait about 6 weeks before I can plant some. I have definitely had good luck with nemesia in the early spring and right up to December’s killing frosts. However, sometimes they don’t do well in the summer, and I lose some. If you cut them back a bit, and let them rest from flowering nemesia will return nicely in September.
Kirsten