Garland Hydrangea Runaway Bride named  Australia’s ‘2025 Plant of the Year’

Hydrangea Runaway Bride, the first garland Hydrangea known for its weeping habit and masses of lace-cap flowers has been named Australia’s ‘2025 Plant of the Year’.   

The Plant of the Year, awarded for the first time in 2025, acknowledges outstanding plant varieties, sparks innovation and interest in the industry, and celebrates exciting developments in the world of horticulture.

Six years ago, the Royal Horticulture Society named Hydrangea Runaway Bride as the UK’s Plant of the Year and ever since the plant has earned a score of other recognitions.

“We could not have possibly envisioned the unbelievable career that would follow for this variety”, according to Garry Grüber, CEO of Cultivaris GmbH.

Hundreds of thousands of garden and Hydrangea lovers worldwide remain ebulliently enthusiastic in regard to the elegant growth habit, coupled with the prolific and unique flowering habit of this variety, and they have all contributed to this success story.

The news of the moment is that Runaway Bride has been named the ‘2025 Plant of the Year’ in Australia.

Plants Management Australia is the exclusive partner in Australia for this innovative variety. Pictured is the owner Chris Sargent and Bonnie-Marie Barnsley at the presentation of the award by the Nursery and Garden Industry Victora (NGIV).

It is claimed that Runaway Bride® and French Bolero® are the only Hydrangea varieties on the market that not only produce terminal flower heads at the end of the stems, but also from every single lateral bud along the stems – hence the name ‘Garland Hydrangea’.

Cultivaris GmbH now announces that as of IPM 2025, these varieties will also be available in 13-cm / 5” branded pots, which can be sourced from our network of licensed growers.

With this new product size, new retail opportunities will be created, but also new applications for the product at the consumer level, in particular for patios and terraces – as solo pots,but also in combination with perennials, grasses, ornamental shrubs and bedding plants.

In addition to this new product form that is ideally suited for mass-retail channels, Cultivaris GmbH also emphasises the increasing interest in special product forms such as pyramids and hanging baskets.

Garry Grüber and Robert Wacker are looking forward to the dialogue with growers and the trade at IPM Essen 2025 at the Cultivaris stand in Hall 1 Stand B37 (in cooperation with Kötterheinrich Hortensienkulturen).