Two Proven Winners® ColorChoice® introductions were among the five best new plant varieties to win 2014 Green Thumb Awards presented by the Direct Gardening Association, the world’s largest nonprofit association of companies that sell garden products directly to consumers via catalogs and websites. Clematis ‘Sweet Summer Love’ and Bloomerang® Dark Purple Lilac were honored in the Plants, Bulbs and Seeds division by the independent panel of garden writers and editors. Selection criteria were based on the plant’s uniqueness, technological innovation, ability to solve a gardening problem or provide a gardening opportunity, and potential appeal to gardeners.
Clematis ‘Sweet Summer Love’ is a hybrid breakthrough by award-winning breeder, Szczepan Marczynski, combining the ease-of-growth, strong fragrance, and hundreds of blooms of ‘Sweet Autumn’ clematis with the added benefit of rich cranberry-violet hues. This deer resistant woody vine is covered in rich color a month earlier than other varieties and continues to fall. The vine climbs to 10+’, is hardy to USDA Zone 4, and can be placed in full sun or part shade. ‘Sweet Summer Love’ has also received a Bronze Medal at the 2011 Plantarium in the Netherlands and a Silver Medal at Flowers 2011 in Moscow, Russia.
Bloomerang® Dark Purple reblooming lilac has larger, more rounded inflorescences and deeper coloring than the original Bloomerang®. This excellent grower reaches a compact 4-6’ tall and wide in full sun and is covered in fragrant, dark lavender flowers in spring. True to the Bloomerang® name, after a brief rest during the heat of summer, it flowers again until frost. Deer resistant. USDA Zone 3.
Clematis ‘Sweet Summer Love’ and Bloomerang® Dark Purple were added to the Proven Winners® ColorChoice® line in 2013. They are currently available through mail order companies such as Garden Crossings, www.gardencrossings.com, and will be widely available at retail in spring 2014.
For more information or high-resolution electronic photos of these plants, please contact Shannon Springer at shannon@springmeadownursery.com.
About Proven Winners® ColorChoice®
Proven Winners ColorChoice is the brand name of Spring Meadow Nursery, Inc., a market leader in flowering shrubs, potted liners, and starter plants. Located in Grand Haven, Michigan, Spring Meadow Nursery has over 500 varieties in their catalog, including 200 varieties marketed under the Proven Winners ColorChoice brand, including Incrediball® Hydrangea, ‘Limelight’ Hydrangea, My Monet® Weigela, Wine & Roses® Weigela, Quick Fire® Hydrangea, and Invincibelle® Spirit Hydrangea. For more information, visit www.provenwinners-shrubs.com and www.springmeadownursery.com.
Source: Spring Meadow Nursery, Inc.
