Featured Five 2026: Favorites from Walters Gardens

Featured Five 2026: Favorites from Walters Gardens

Heidi Lindberg<wollaege@msu.edu>, Michigan State University Extension - September 25, 2026

Are you seeking proven performers for the season ahead? Check out Part 7 of our series highlighting top picks from the 2026 Michigan Garden Plant Tour trial sites.

Decorative image. — Photo 1. Trial gardens at Walters Gardens. All photos by Heidi Lindberg, MSU Extension.

Each year, Michigan State University collaborates with Michigan’s leading young plant producers to host a complimentary open house at their trial sites and display gardens. This event offers growers, landscapers, and retail professionals a valuable opportunity to explore a diverse array of ornamental crops and assess their performance in both in-ground and container settings. 

The 2026 Michigan Garden Plant Tour ran from July 27 to August 7, showcasing the latest innovations and standout varieties across multiple locations. Parts 1-6 of this series covered Michigan State University Extension’s top picks from all of the other trial sites. Part 7 will cover the highlights from Walters Gardens.

Featured Five at Walters Gardens

Walters Gardens provides a living landscape performance trial of the herbaceous perennial Proven Winners collection. The trial garden (Photo 1) expands every year to include the new introductions. These five plant varieties topped the list this year:

Heliopsis ‘Athena Gold’ – Walters Gardens
Rudbeckia ‘Treasure Trove’ – Walters Gardens
Hibiscus ‘Fantasy Twirl’ – Walters Gardens
Heliopsis 'Forged in Fire' – Walters Gardens
Dicentra ‘Pixie Heart’ – Walters Gardens

Heliopsis ‘Athena Gold’

Photo 2 and 3 Walters 26.jpg — Photos 2 and 3. Gold, double flowers of Heliopsis ‘Athena Gold.’

New to 2026 retail, the petite Heliopsis ‘Athena Gold’ was densely covered in double yellow/gold flowers in well-mounded clumps (Photos 2 and 3). It has a shorter stature than other Heliopsis in their lineup and would be a great eye-catching front of the border. It really stood out from other perennials in the current introduction bed.

Rudbeckia ‘Treasure Trove’

Photo 4 and 5 Walters 26.jpg — Photos 4 and 5. New 2027 septoria-resistant rudbeckia ‘Treasure Trove.’

There is a ton of buzz about the new 2027 variety of rudbeckia from Walter’s Gardens, ‘Treasure Trove.’ It has large yellow flowers, nice foliage and a high resistance to septoria leaf spot commonly a problem for other rudbeckia cultivars.

What surprised me about this new variety was its stature: this is no petite, front-of-the-border black-eyed Susan. It’s height and spread are around 36 inches or even bigger (my shoulder height!) (Photo 5).

Rudbeckia are great pollinator plants, have great ecological value, provide gorgeous summer color, and are a favorite of many gardeners, including me.

Hibiscus ‘Fantasy Twirl’

Photo 6 and 7 Walters 26.jpg — Photos 6 and 7. Hot pink and white flowers of ‘Fantasy Twirl.’

Usually, I am a big fan of the dark-leafed hardy hibiscus because of their stature and unusual leaf color, but this year I was drawn to the new 2027 ‘Fantasy Twirl’ hibiscus. The pink and white gradient on the dinner-plant sized flowers was stunning (Photo 7).

Like all of the recently released hibiscus it has a tidy but large form (Photo 6). Its coloration adds a striking tropical look in our temperate climate.

Heliopsis 'Forged in Fire'

Photo 8 and 9 Walters 26.jpg — Photos 8 and 9. Orange and gold bicolor flowers of Heliopsis ‘Forged in Fire.’

Another Heliopsis caught my eye at the trial garden. Heliopsis 'Forged in Fire' really glowed in the new 2026-2027 introduction bed. It is a mid-sized false sunflower and has a really distinctive variable flower color (Photos 8 and 9).

The orange is most vibrant on new flowers and fades to gold as individual flowers fade. It gives this busy, well-branched Heliopsis a multicolor effect in the garden. I’ll be waiting for this one to come out next year to add to my garden!

Dicentra ‘Pixie Heart’

Photo 10 and 11 Walters 26.jpg — Photos 10 and 11. Petite candy pink flowers of ‘Pixie Heart’ bleeding heart.

On the other side of the 2026-2027 introduction bed was this cute, little, sun-loving alpine bleeding heart. Because of its alpine origins, ‘Pixie Heart’ performs best in well drained, sunny sites. The gobs of small pink flowers were distinctive and add a nice touch of texture and pastel color to the garden (Photos 10 and 11).

For more top 2026 varieties, check out the other articles in our series: 

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).