As we move into 2019, trendy gardeners are already thinking of how to work the color of the year in our landscape.
The Pantone Color Institute selected Living Coral as the 2019 Color of the Year, and fortunately it is an easy hue to accessorize with plants, pots and pillows. For flowers, there’s Proven Winners’ annual Superbells Coralberry Punch calibrachoa, and Burpee’s Hot Coral coneflower (Echinacea spp.), a perennial. Shock Wave Coral Crush Petunia is one of the Wave series with a 3-foot spread.
Sombrero Hot Coral coneflower. Photo courtesy BallHort.com
The native coralberry shrub (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus) is a bit rangy, but produces lots of coralberries. Sometimes called Indian currants, this sun-loving, hardy shrub gets about 4 feet tall, but suckers to form a colony about 8 feet wide. Coralberry provides winter interest and food for birds. Although the common name suggests the fruits are edible, they are considered toxic.
First Editions from Bailey Nurseries has introduced Candy coralberry (S. x doorenbosii ‘Kolmcan’) and Sweet (S. x d. ‘Kolmagics’), two hybrids, which at 2 ½ feet tall and 3 feet wide, are more manageable in smaller landscapes. Candy sports plump pink flowers that swell into pearl-like fruit. Sweet has rose pink fruit on arched stems. The fruit is not edible and deer don’t seem to bother them, either.
Another garden-worthy addition is coral bark Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’), which is truly beautiful. Considered a small tree, it gets about 20 feet tall and wide and does best in filtered to full sun. Like a lot of Japanese maples, this one should be watered regularly, but especially in dry conditions.
For fashionable foodies
The International Herb Association selects anise hyssop (Agastache spp.) as the 2019 Herb of the Year. The sun-loving plant has a licorice-like scent and flavor. The leaves and flowers are used in teas, salads and other foods. The flowers are favored by bees and many other insects, and can be cut for indoor arrangements.
Anise hyssop can be an annual or perennial. In sticking with the coral theme, there’s Kudos Coral, a hybrid. This is labeled as a perennial, hardy to USDA Zone 6, which includes most of central Indiana. But I’d grow this a temperennial – probably not reliably hardy, but a very prolific bloomer all summer.