When you’ve worked with plants for years, it’s easy to get attached to the originals. They’re reliable, familiar, and often tied to personal memories. Still, we can’t help but notice where the old favorites fall short and where the new introductions quietly outshine them.
The Evolution of Garden Plants
Every gardener has a soft spot for the classics, the plants that have proven themselves year after year and earned a permanent place in our landscapes. But plant breeding never stands still, and in recent years we’ve seen exciting new introductions that improve on those dependable standbys. Whether it’s sturdier stems, cleaner foliage, longer bloom times, or simply a fresh look, these updated varieties show how gardening continues to evolve. In this post, I’ll share some of the plants I’ve known and loved for years, alongside the newer cultivars that have impressed me just as much.
Hydrangeas
Old Favorite:
‘Annabelle’ Hydrangea
‘Annabelle’ has long been the tried-and-true smooth hydrangea, prized for its generous white mophead blooms and forgiving nature in part-shade, moist soils. That said, its floppy flower heads after rain or under their own weight can be a bit of a landscape challenge.
New Favorite:
FlowerFull® Hydrangea
FlowerFull® addresses that exact issue with sturdier, upright stems and notably more consistent blooming, from early summer into fall. Trials confirm a higher number of blooms on cleaner, healthier foliage, which makes maintenance easier and reduces the need for staking.
Groundcover Shrubs
Old Favorite:
‘Gro-Low’ Sumac
‘Gro-Low’ Sumac has anchored many low-drama groundcover spots with its spreading habit and fine foliage. Its look, while utilitarian, can leave something to be desired in seasons beyond summer.
New Favorite:
Jade Parade® Sand Cherry
Jade Parade® brings subtle sophistication: glossy bluish-green leaves, arching upward growth rather than just creeping, and springy white flowers that turn into dark berries for wildlife. Come fall, the foliage offers layered and colorful seasonal texture. It’s drought-tolerant once established, making it both ornamental and resilient.
Oak Trees
Old Favorite:
Swamp White Oak
This is a dependable native that’s adaptable, wildlife-friendly, and rugged. It’s been a cornerstone in larger landscapes for its character and resilience through years.
New Favorite:
Heritage® Oak
A hybrid between English and Bur oaks, Heritage® has glossy foliage and a crisp oval-to-upright form. It boasts better disease resistance and overall vigor, delivering both native character and a tidier, more refined form that works beautifully along streets or structured spaces.
Arborvitae
Old Favorite:
Holmstrup Arborvitae
The Holmstrup Arborvitae has been a popular choice for decades, especially for narrow hedges and screening. Its dense, upright form and moderate height make it versatile in suburban landscapes where space can be limited. It also handles pruning well. However, Holmstrup is notably prone to winter burn in exposed sites, which can leave foliage browned and patchy by spring. This susceptibility often means extra care is needed to keep it looking good year after year.
New Favorite:
North Pole® Arborvitae
Developed as part of Proven Winners® ColorChoice® line, North Pole® has a naturally narrow, columnar form similar to Holmstrup but grows slightly taller. Most importantly, it has proven to be significantly more resistant to winter burn, retaining its deep green foliage through the harshest conditions with far less intervention. For gardeners and landscapers looking for a low-maintenance evergreen that performs in cold climates, North Pole provides the same formal structure but with added toughness and year-round consistency.
Spirea
Old Favorite:
‘Anthony Waterer’ Spirea
This spirea has long been admired for its compact, rounded habit and rosy-pink flower clusters that appear in late spring through summer. It thrives in average, well-drained soil and is deer-resistant, making it reliable in mixed borders or foundation plantings. That said, this cultivar can be an aggressive self-seeder in some gardens, spreading beyond its intended area and requiring control measures.
New Favorite:
Double Play Doozie® Spirea
Part of the improved Double Play® series, ‘Double Play Doozie’® upgrades the Anthony Waterer baseline with larger, deeper-colored blooms and bolder foliage. It maintains a more compact, uniform habit and offers better disease resistance, delivering a richer, cleaner performance without the invasive tendencies.
Crabapples
Old Favorite:
‘Pink Spires’ Crabapple
This is a garden classic with upright form and showy spring flowers, but its prolific fruit and susceptibility to diseases like scab and fire blight can create maintenance headaches. Fallen fruit can lead to rot issues, and foliage may suffer despite efforts.
New Favorite:
Courageous™ Crabapple
‘Courageous’ steps up with fragrant lilac-pink blooms, bronze-red new foliage that matures to green, and bright fall color. It’s bred for low fruit production and offers robust resistance to scab and fire blight, giving you the spring show and clean foliage with far less seasonal cleanup.
Salvia
Old Favorite:
‘May Night’ Salvia
‘May Night’ has long been a staple for its deep violet-blue spikes, blooming from summer into fall. However, its stems often flop as the season progresses, especially under rain or weight, requiring frequent staking or thinning to maintain structure.
New Favorite:
‘Blue by You’ Salvia
A newer nemorosa-type selection, ‘Blue by You’ offers similarly vivid blooms but delivers a stronger, more upright habit throughout the season. In greenhouse trials, it was noted alongside better-blooming, more robust alternatives to ‘May Night’, marking it as a standout performer in look and structure.
Sedum
Old Favorite:
‘Autumn Joy’ Sedum
‘Autumn Joy’ is a late-season workhorse, valued for its dusty rose blooms and ability to attract pollinators. Over time, though, its flower heads often split open and flop, losing their form and tidy appearance in the landscape.
New Favorite:
‘Autumn Fire’ Sedum
‘Autumn Fire’ refines the formula with a tighter, more upright structure, thicker foliage, and brighter rose-red blooms. In gardener trials, it was praised for larger, longer-lasting flowers and improved structural integrity, holding its shape well into late winter.
Daylily
Old Favorite:
‘Pardon Me’ Daylily
Compact yet cheerful, ‘Pardon Me’ brings dependable red blooms in early to mid-summer. But once flowering is done, it often falls silent for the rest of the season. With no rebloom, the garden’s red pop of color disappears quickly.
New Favorite:
‘Ruby Stella’ Daylily
‘Ruby Stella’ offers everblooming performance: it delivers repeated waves of ruby-red flowers across the growing season, giving you rich, continuous color with very little extra care.
Hosta
Old Favorite:
‘Gold Standard’ Hosta
This shade-loving staple is prized for its warm chartreuse leaves and ease in border combinations. That said, its color, while pleasant, is relatively muted compared to more vibrant modern varieties.
New Favorite:
‘Captain Kirk’ Hosta
‘Captain Kirk’ brings bolder, high-contrast variegation: its bright, creamy-yellow centers pop against rich green margins, offering visual impact even in dense shade schemes. It’s a stronger performer when color is the star.
Gardener’s Insight
Each of these pairings represents more than just variety updates; they’re thoughtful improvements: tackling floppiness, reducing maintenance, improving disease resistance, or simply giving us more color and interest in the garden. As someone who still loves those classics, it’s exciting to see new cultivars that preserve what’s beloved while raising the bar.
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