NGB announces 2023 Green Thumb Award winners
NGB announced 2023 Green Thumb Award winners
The National Garden Bureau (NGB), a 102-year-old non-profit organization that promotes gardening on behalf of the horticulture industry, announced six live goods and two hard goods as winners of the 2023 Green Thumb Award. Winners were chosen based on these four criteria: uniqueness, technological innovation, ability to solve a gardening problem or provide a gardening opportunity, and appeal to gardeners. The program was created in 1998 to recognize the most innovative new plants and gardening products available each year. 2023 winners included:
Rose Eau De Parfume Bubbly
This rose series delivers big, delightfully fragrant blooms with a high petal count that provide the classic romance of roses with the added benefit of disease resistance brought to you by modern breeding. Bubbly features a champagne-coloured bloom that forms a lovely bud, then slowly unfurls to its full glory. The lush foliage makes these excellent shrubs in the garden. Blooms repeatedly from early spring until the first frost. This rose series is hardy to zone five, grows to three to four feet tall and is from Monrovia Nursery.
Colocasia esculenta Royal Hawaiian Waikiki
Veteran plant pros and new gardeners alike are talking about the exciting new colours on this colocasia. Royal Hawaiian Waikiki offers glossy green foliage with flamboyant white and flamingo pink veining and is bred to be happy in full sun. Disease resistance and a compact, clumping habit — three feet tall and wide — is ideal for patio containers, poolside plantings and colour-packed garden beds. This plant was entered by Plant Haven International and is available from several sources. This colocasia is also a 2023 All-America Selections National Winner making it a dual-award winner.
Astilbe Dark Side of the Moon
A new instant classic for the landscape, Dark Side of the Moon astilbe is the only dark-leafed astilbe with purple flowers currently on the market. Rich, deep chocolate-burgundy leaves form an incredibly attractive 18 to 24-inch mound of foliage. Emerging leaves are yellow with a dark margin and a glossy sheen that becomes completely dark as they age. Dark stems hold raspberry buds that burst forth with rosy, purple flowers. This astilbe is hardy in zones four to nine and is from Walters Gardens.
TruDrop Flex
This self-watering planter from Crescent Garden provides phenomenal results, helping to make successful gardening accessible to everyone. The innovative insert can be removed from its shell easily, so you can change the style, change the plants, and maintain your plants. The outer shell serves as a great water reservoir that allows it to go weeks without watering, delivering phenomenal results by watering through the roots, while at the same time, saving water and fertilizer usage for a truly sustainable container garden. It can be used indoors or out.
Tradescantia Pistachio White
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A breeding breakthrough allows this all-new tradescantia to maintain heavy white variegation while still supporting vigorous growth. An excellent selection for small pots through hanging baskets, as well as an eye-popping combination item. This house plant from PanAmerican Seed maintains fantastic performance as a house plant in winter months.
Dibby XL gardening tool
The Dibby XL helps any gardener of any skill level consistently plant vegetable and flower seeds at the correct depth for good germination. This means more plants with less time and effort. Also, thinning and transplanting seedlings just got easier. Other tools are hard to manoeuvre around tender seedlings, and none of them gently cup a seedling by its roots. The Dibby XL helps easily transplant and thin seedlings giving them more room to develop.
Starflower Paper Moon
The novelty of this annual is what makes it a winner in the 2023 Green Thumb Award. Small, pale blue blossoms on wiry stems transform into highly decorative, bronze-coloured geometric and globe-shaped seed heads. Plants are grown primarily for the papery seed pods, which are useful for both fresh and dried bouquets. This variety is from Sahin/Takii EU. Plants grow two to three feet tall and attract beneficial insects.