Featured Four: Favorites from Walters Gardens

Heidi Lindberg<wollaege@msu.edu> and Caitlin Splawski<splawski@msu.edu>, Michigan State University Extension - September 12, 2024

Looking for tried and true performers for the upcoming season? Read Part 7 of our series about favorites from this year’s Michigan Garden Plant Tour trial sites.

Mangave plants. — Photos 1 and 2. Overlooking the trial gardens at Walters Gardens (left) and the Mangave bed (R). Photos by Heidi Lindberg, MSU Extension.

Every year Michigan State University and Michigan’s leading young plant producers host a free open house at their trial sites and display gardens to give growers, landscapers and retail operators the opportunity to learn about a wide range of ornamental crops. Industry professionals can see for themselves which new varieties perform the best under various conditions, including in the ground and in containers. The tour lasts for two weeks and was held this year from July 29-Aug. 9, 2024.

Parts 1-6 of this series covered Michigan State University Extension’s favorites at DGI Propagators, Four Star Greenhouses, Michigan State University (MSU) Trial Garden, Mast Young Plants, Pell Greenhouses, Inc. and Raker-Roberta’s Young Plants. This article will feature plants with excellent performance at Walters trial and display gardens.

Featured Four at Walters Gardens

Walters Gardens provides a living landscape performance trial of the perennial Proven Winners collection. The trial garden (Photo 1) expands every year with a new bed added to include the featured Mangave collection (Photo 2), new releases and different growing systems, such as bog and rock gardens (Photos 3-4). This year, I chose these four plant varieties to top the list:

Eucomis ‘Purple Reign’ – Walters Gardens
Alstroemeria ‘Summer Breeze’ – Walters Gardens
Alstroemeria ‘Summer Heat’ – Walters Gardens
Hibiscus Summerific® ‘Candy Crush’ – Walters Gardens

Photos 3 and 4. The rock garden showcases plants that tolerate drought (left) while the bog garden showcases plants that thrive in wet, marshy conditions. Photos by Heidi Lindberg, MSU Extension.

Eucomis ‘Purple Reign’

Eucomis (Photo 5), also known as pineapple lily, is a genus of plants native to South Africa and has a tropical looking bronze foliage. On top of the dark foliage are showy, tall inflorescences that resemble a pineapple, hence the common name. Being from the Midwest, I am always drawn to plants that look so different than those native to Michigan. Similar to the kangaroo paw plant from Part 5 of our series at Pell Greenhouses, this plant is attractive for the texture and diversity that it can bring to your garden. Don’t be fooled by its tropical looks though, this plant is hardy to zone 6.

Walters purple reign.jpeg — Photo 5. Eucomis ‘Purple Reign’ has purple spikes of flowers on bronze strappy foliage. Photo by Heidi Lindberg, MSU Extension.

Alstroemeria ‘Summer Breeze’

Those who are familiar with cut flowers in the florist trade will be happy to see that two Alstroemeria, or Peruvian lilies, made my list for 2024. Walters Gardens is releasing three new varieties in this genus for 2024-2025, all with beautiful flowers. ‘Summer Breeze’ (Photo 6) is a swirl of orange, apricot and yellow flowers. It has overwintered multiple seasons in Zone 6 in Zeeland, Michigan. A favorite in the cut flower trade, its blooms can last for two weeks in a vase. In the landscape, it blooms mid-summer through frost. It is a great addition to the back of a border garden or an addition to a cut flower garden.

Walters summer breeze.jpeg — Photo 6. Alstroemeria ‘Summer Breeze’ features a sorbet of colors and is a new introduction for 2024-2025. Photo by Heidi Lindberg, MSU Extension.

Alstroemeria ‘Summer Heat’

Similar to ‘Summer Breeze,’ ‘Summer Heat’ (Photos 7-8) stands 3 to 3.5 feet tall and is a great back of the border variety that attracts pollinators. The flowers are bright red with yellow throats. It added vibrant color to this display bed.

Hibiscus Summerific ‘Candy Crush’

It wouldn’t be a trial season at Walters Gardens if I didn’t choose a Summerific hardy hibiscus as a favorite! In their trial gardens, they have all the varieties of hardy hibiscus planted in a large bed as well as a stunning large border bed across the garden. ‘Candy Crush’ (Photo 9) is not the newest introduction but had showy pink flowers with deep throats in a tidy 5-foot ball-like habit.

There are so many awesome perennials on display in the gardens that it is hard to choose just four. Others that caught my attention included: Mangave ‘Pineapple Upsidedown Cake’, Kniphofia ‘Papaya Popsicle’, Colocasia ‘Redemption’ and Delosperma ‘Action Shot’.

Walters candy crush.jpeg — Photo 9. Hibiscus Summerific ‘Candy Crush’ features huge 8-inch flowers on a tidy but large foliage. Photo by Heidi Lindberg, MSU Extension.

For more top 2024 varieties, check out the previous 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).