German perennial seed supplier Jelitto to launch its new catalogue

SCHWARMSTEDT, Germany: German perennial seed supplier Jelitto Staudensamen has highlighted azure blue lathyrus vernus and tri-coloured allum schoenoprasum mix as absolute showstoppers in their catalogue which will soon roll off the press.

Jelitto will soon release its new catalogue. Whether perennial growers are seeking the tried and tested or the coolest and newest, the catalogue helps them to make informed decisions and keep abreast of the latest product developments in perennials.

An absolute highlight is Mixed One, which is the latest addition to the breeder’s popular “Ornamental One” Chive Series which launched in 2020.

Mixed One help gardeners add beauty to their herb gardens and mixed containers by planting sturdy clumps from three single-colour seed strains which are unique in the market.

Mixed One is first-year flowering and edible and now includes a trio of pink, purple and white flowering plants with consistent medium-sized foliage. At 30 cm (12 in) tall in flower and hardy in zones 3-9, the Mixed One is a versatile addition to any garden attracting bees and other insects. Whether you love ’Pink One’ or are looking for a drought-tolerant groundcover in your white garden (’White One’) or want a violet flash of colour with ’Purple One’, growers have now plenty of choices and can have them all united in one seed mix.

Jelitto launched the Alcea Spotlight Series in 2010, featuring sturdy, single-flowering Alceas in four wonderful colours: ’Mars Magic’ in red, black-purple ’Blacknight’, the yellow ’Sunshine’, and the white ’Polarstar’. The company added pink ’Radiant Rose’ to the series in 2014.

Breeding the series started in 1992 and 16 years ago Jelitto began its breeding work to bring a blue-purple form to the market. The earliest kernels of ’Purple Rain’ originated in a private garden in Romania. This form had deeply divided leaves, not matching the ideal form for our upcoming Spotlight Series, but was truly perennial. The series latest addition is, ’Purple Rain’ featuring wide green foliage on sturdy upright stems and deep blue-violet single saucers. Plants grow to around 180 cm (70 inches) the same height as the rest of the seed-raised Spotlight Series, and if sown early in the year, are first-year flowering.

Also new is the clear blue colour of Lathyrus vernus ‘Heavently Blues’. Blooming in early spring… just in time to welcome gardeners back to the ¬garden… ’Heavenly Blues’ is a long-lived member of the Papilionaceae family of leguminous plants whose flowers have butterfly-shaped corollas and attract masses of butterflies and bees.

Lathyrus ’Heavenly Blues’ grows quickly to form nice clumps in an open woodland garden or rockery and thrives best in cooler summer climates. Heavenly azure-blue flowers present a unique colour rarely found among this hardy sweet pea group which normally flowers in red-violet shades.

Lathyrus vernus grows best in well-drained woodland soils and valuably complements other early blooming perennials like Trillium, Helleborus, Doronicum and Dicentra, with its gently textured foliage.

Lobelia ’White Cardinal’ is a unique variety featuring pure white flowers accented by a touch of reddish-pink flower tubes. This perennial plant grows like its red brother (winner of an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society) preferring moist to wet soil. Its large brilliant flowers with their deeply hidden nectaries are an excellent food source for hummingbirds and butterflies.