2012 Green Thumb Awards by Jeff Rugg on Creators.com

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2012 Green Thumb Awards

Five new plant varieties and five new gardening products have won 2012 Green Thumb Awards presented by the Direct Gardening Association (formerly the Mailorder Gardening Association). The Green Thumb Awards have been going on for 15 years, and judges include garden writers like me; in fact, I judged last year, but not this year.

This week, we look at the plants that won, and next week, we'll check out the tools. The winning products are judged on their uniqueness; technological innovation; ability to solve a gardening problem or provide a gardening opportunity; and potential appeal to gardeners. For more information visit DirectGardeningAssociation.com. This is a great website to get new catalogs for plants, seeds and products.

High Country Gardens was the big winner this year, with three of the five plant awards. Learn more about the shop and greenhouse by dialing 800-925-9387 or visiting HighCountryGardens.com.

High Country Gardens has a new collection of perennials that attract bees. Many vegetable plants need to be pollinated for a better harvest. Bees, flies and other insects are involved, but they may not come to your garden if there aren't enough flowers to attract them. By planting the kinds of perennials offered by High Country Gardens around your vegetable garden, you'll get more bees to come to the vegetables.

Since we're talking perennials, don't plant them in the garden where you may want to plant vegetables in the future. The Harvest Booster Perennial Collection includes two plants each of the following: Monarda didyma "Pink Lace" PPAF, Nepeta faassenii "Select Blue", Agastache "Blue Fortune", Echinacea purpurea, Solidago "Little Lemon" PP#17297 and Oregano "Rotkugel." These plants are cold hardy in USDA Zones 5-9 and have good heat tolerance. The 12-plant collection sells for $89.99.

Brakelights is the first Hesperaloe parviflora, or Texas Red Yucca, to have truly bright red flowers.

Typically, the flowers are reddish-orange. This native, evergreen succulent is a semi-dwarf cultivar with 2.5-foot-tall flower spikes coming from a multi-stemmed crown of dark green, strap-like leaves. In full bloom in the late summer, Brakelights is a hummingbird magnet. It's cold-hardy in USDA zones 5 through 10 and heat-tolerant in the hottest parts of the country. A 1-gallon plant sells for $24.99.

Fire Spinner Ice is a plant that's not for cold areas. It is a South African groundcover that grows a couple of inches tall in USDA zones 6 through 10. It grows in full sun in sandy-loam soils. It's perfect for landscapes that use very little water. Fire Spinner has tri-colored flowers covering the tight evergreen mat of succulent foliage. This plant has also been honored as a 2012 Plant Select winner. Plants in 2.5-inch pots sell for $5.99.

Henry Field's Seed and Nursery Co. has the new Black Magic blackberry, which produces big, richly flavored berries multiple times during the growing season. It will set a large summer crop and a later fall crop and may produce fruit throughout the entire summer, depending upon growing conditions. The self-supporting and lightly thorned canes have impressive heat tolerance, even in 100-plus-degree days. A No. 1, one-year-old plant sells for $19. Call 513-354-1495 or visit HenryFields.com.

For the very first time, home gardeners can now grow Texas Early White onion plants. This variety was previously available only to commercial growers. This open-pollinated variety produces a superior, white, globe-shaped, sweet onion that matures early in the season. This short-day variety is ideal for growing in the southern parts of the U.S. Texas Early White onion has been evaluated for uniform maturity, resistance to greening, pink root tolerance, bolting resistance and shelf life — and it passed every test! Plants are sold in bunches of five dozen. One bunch is $11; $15 for two bunches; three bunches cost $19. They're available from Dixondale Farms, 877-367-1015, or on the Web at DixondaleFarms.com.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at info@greenerview.com. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.