Hello and happy new year! The new year is such an exciting time. Who doesn’t love a fresh start? But even better: this is the time us gardeners start planning for the upcoming growing season.
If you’re anything like us, you’re already mapping out your gardens, planning your crop rotations, and deciding which new varieties to try this year.
And on that note- we have news for you!
We have over 20 new and exciting varieties this year for every kind of garden!
In this post:
- Vegetables for small gardens
- Vegetables for large gardens
- Perennial flowers (for pollinator gardens)
- Tender perennial flowers
- Self-seeding annual flowers
- Annual flowers
The Veggies
A FEAST FOR YOUR TABLE
Small Spaces: Are you one of the many gardeners working in small spaces? We’ve added something just for you!
Little Purple Snow Pea and Little Crunch Snap Pea
These peas will remain compact and are suitable for containers and small spaces, while still being prolific! You’ll be eating fresh, home grown peas all season long without needing the space required of traditional plants.
But that’s not all! Peppers also make great container plants and we’ve added two of those as well!
Encore Green Bell Pepper and Durango Sweet Chili Pepper.
Peppers have become a very popular category for our customers. The rise in popularity of container gardening, combined with a culinary interest in growing peppers for preserves and salsas had us really wanting to raise the bar. The Encore Pepper is a new and improved replacement for last year’s green bell but the Durango is something totally new and exciting. The sweet chili heat of the Durango pepper will make it a very interesting addition to your pepper garden this year.
Psst- If you’re limited on space, why not try our Patio Hybrid Tomato and Patio Snacker Cucumber too?
Big Spaces: Are you one of the lucky ones with garden beds to spare?
Our new Rattlesnake Pole Bean (coming soon!) is an Heirloom climbing bean that has been popular for decades. This hardy, prolific, easy pole bean has been added to flesh out our selection, making sure you always have the best of everything!
Do you like squash? Why not try our new Total Eclipse Scallop Squash! This Pattypan-type squash is small in size and fun to grow, gift, and cook.
And at last, Turk’s Turban! This old heirloom variety is making a comeback! We were offering this 40 years ago and we’ve had so many requests in recent years that we brought it back! Turk’s Turban Squash are visually stunning and fun to grow for the holidays! These make great centerpieces, host gifts, and Halloween decorations… and they’re good to eat too! You just can’t go wrong with this one.
Psst- If you have extra space, why not try Vienna Kohlrabi or Large Musselberg Leeks too?
The Flowers
A FEAST FOR YOUR EYES
Perennials
Pollinator gardens have become a huge focus for Canadians and we wanted to continue to support your efforts by offering packets of Wild Bergamot (otherwise known as “Bee Balm”). Wild Bergamot was available in some of our wildflower mixes but its importance to pollinators, especially bees, makes it an excellent choice to plant on its own to support pollinator health in your area!
Psst- If you’re interested in growing pollinator-friendly gardens, check out our Beneficial Insect and Bee Pollinator mixes too!
Tender Perennials (zone 5)
Sorbet Spring Select and Citrus Mixed Violas
These two beautiful new colour combinations of Violas are smaller flowers than their Pansy cousins but just as pretty! They also boast a longer blooming period with amazing uniformity. Great for mass plantings!
Self-Seeding Annuals
Mission Bells Mixed California Poppies
A truly stunning combination of semi-double to double flowers in a calming colour assortment of oranges and yellows with pops of soft pink and white. Rugged, drought resistant flowers are perfect for mass plantings and xeriscaping. A bee and butterfly favourite too! Often re-seeds itself the second season.
Annuals
These glamourous large blue flowers look outstanding in planters or flower borders. Stays tight and uniform all summer long.
These easy zinnias have a unique, lush flowering form in gorgeous colour combinations of pinks, reds, and cream. Double flowers are loaded with eye-catching layers of petals so thick they are often as wide as they are tall.
An amazing soft yellow Cosmos with rounded, single flowers shading to pale yellow-white tips. Rare in cosmos! Early flowering, dwarf, uniform plants. Perfect for containers or garden sowing.
Purple Haze Bachelor Buttons are the rock stars of the garden! A great pollinator plant that will “kiss the sky” with bright blue flowers contrasting with purple and mauve highlights to produce a warm garden mixture. It’s also an edible flower for colourful summer salads.
New Imara® Impatiens
Stronger and more resistant to downy mildew than ever before, new Imara® Impatiens walleriana are bringing back your favourite bedding plant. During intensive, trialing, Imara® out-performed other varieties even when exposed to the disease. Enjoy summer long performance from these robust plants in addition to their strength against downy mildew. Ideal for moderate sun locations and perfect for shaded gardens rain or shine. Blooms all summer long, surviving until first frost.
Coming soon: Orange, Red, Pink, Salmon Shades, Purple, Roses, Mixed.
Will you be trying out any of these fun new varieties? Tag us in your garden photos (@oscseeds) on Facebook and Instagram!
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