New Plants For 2023 (18 Of The Best New Perennials and Shrubs)
Ready to freshen up your garden this year? Whether you’re a beginner home gardener or an experienced green thumb, you won’t want to miss out on the hottest new plants that 2023 has to offer. So let’s take a look at all of these new and exciting varieties which promise to add texture, color and beauty to any garden.
Why is it that it doesn’t matter how many perennials and shrubs I already have in my garden, I can’t resist getting more?
I tell myself that I don’t need any more plants.
That there really isn’t any room to put anything else.
Then I see all the new varieties being introduced.
And I can’t help myself. I have to make a list of all the ones I want. (And then buy some of them).
So here is this year’s list of perennials and shrubs. My favorite new plants for 2023.
Meant to Bee™ Royal Raspberry Anise Hyssop
Scientific name: Agastache hybrid
Zone: 5 to 9
Exposure: Full sun
Height: 28″ to 32″
Width: 28″ to 32″
Bloom time: Summer to fall
Flower color: Purple
Meant to Bee™ Royal Raspberry Anise Hyssop has tall spikes of fragrant, purple flowers that bloom for a long time.
Its foliage starts out burgundy in the spring before turning green in the summer.
This stunning plant attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, is drought tolerant and resists deer.
The perfect addition to the back of a sunny border.
‘Dark Side of the Moon’ Astilbe
Scientific name: Astilbe hybrid
Zone: 4 to 9
Exposure: Part shade
Height: 20″ to 22″
Width: 24″ to 28″
Bloom time: Summer
Flower color: Purple
I have a thing for beautiful foliage, and that’s why I have to have ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ Astilbe.
It has beautiful burgundy leaves that start out yellow in the spring and turn completely dark as they mature.
Then the tall spikes of purple flowers make it even prettier.
Astilbe is easy to care for and resists deer and rabbits. But does need to be well-watered to be at its best.
Fruit Punch® ‘Funky Fuchsia’ Pinks
Scientific name: Dianthus hybrid
Zone: 4 to 9
Exposure: Sun to part sun
Height: 8″ to 10″
Width: 14″ to 16″
Bloom time: Early summer, early fall
Flower color: Bright pink
If you love cut flowers, then these Fruit Punch® ‘Funky Fuchsia’ Pinks may be just what you’re looking for.
They produce fragrant, florist-quality, bright pink blooms that are 1½ to 2 inches wide in the early summer.
Then re-bloom again in early fall, especially if you trim them back after the first set of flowers are done.
This Dianthus is also heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant, attracts bees and butterflies and resists deer.
Color Coded® ‘One in a Melon’ Coneflower
Scientific name: Echinacea hybrid
Zone: 4 to 8
Exposure: Sun to part sun
Height: 24″ to 26″
Width: 18″ to 20″
Bloom time: Summer
Flower color: Yellow orange
I don’t have a lot of orange flowers in my garden, but it’s to hard to resist an echinacea with 5″ flowers that are fragrant!
Which is what this Color Coded® ‘One in a Melon’ Coneflower produces.
Proven Winners seems to bring out a new Color Coded® variety every year, and each one looks better than the ones before.
This perennial also attracts bees and butterflies, resists deer and is quite drought tolerant once established.
SunSeekers® Salmon Coneflower
Scientific name: Echinacea hybrid
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Sun to part sun
Height: 24″
Width: 24″
Bloom time: Summer to fall
Flower color: Salmon pink
I couldn’t resist adding this Echinacea to my 2023 new plants list, either.
It has long blooming, semi-double flowers that start out with salmon pink outside petals and light yellow ones in the center. As the blooms mature, the salmon turns to pale pink and the cone turns dark providing a stunning contrast.
Wouldn’t it make a beautiful addition to a cut flower arrangement?
And it has the same benefits as most coneflowers – it attracts butterflies and bees, is drought tolerant and deer resistant.
Shadowland® ‘Echo the Sun’ Hosta
Scientific name: Hosta hybrid
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Part shade to shade
Height: 18″ to 20″
Width: 42″ to 48″
Bloom time: Summer
Flower color: Lavender
Hostas are another one of my favorite plants especially since I have a lot of shade in my yard.
Shadowland® ‘Echo the Sun’ Hosta looks exactly like it sounds with its bright yellow leaves that will really stand out in a shady location.
As with many Hostas, it grows wider than its height so it will make an excellent ground cover.
And this one has thick leaves, which means it should be more slug resistant than many other varieties.
‘First Blush’ Hosta
Scientific name: Hosta hybrid
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Part shade to shade
Height: 14″
Width: 28″
Bloom time: Early summer
Flower color: Light purple
I also found ‘First Blush’ Hosta, which apparently is the first red-leaf Hosta, and was hybridized in Chapel Hill, NC.
And those leaves were what drew me in.
They start out yellow with red between the veins, then turn to green but keep the red margins.
This Hosta variety is low-growing so it’s perfect for the front of the shade border where you can really appreciate the pretty foliage.
In the early summer, it products purple-pink flowers on long purplish-red stems.
Forever® Red Coral Bells
Scientific name: Heuchera hybrid
Zone: 4 to 9
Exposure: Sun to part sun
Height: 8″ to 12″
Width: 14″ to 18″
Bloom time: Late summer to fall
Flower color: White
Continuing with my foliage fascination, how stunning are the red leaves on Forever® Red Coral Bells.
It is also low growing, so perfect for the front of the border, edging a path or growing in containers.
While it is mainly grow for its foliage, this Heuchera also produces small white flowers on red stocks in late summer to fall. Which is totally different than most Coral Bell varieties that bloom in the spring.
This plant is easy to grow but requires regular watering to keep it growing well.
Magic Show® ‘Ever After’ Spike Speedwell
Scientific name: Veronica hybrid
Zone: 4 to 8
Exposure: Sun to part sun
Height: 14″ to 16″
Width: 16″ to 20″
Bloom time: Summer
Flower color: Purple
I always like to include some spiky flowers in my garden to add contrast.
And Magic Show® ‘Ever After’ Spike Speedwell will definitely help with that.
It has purple flower spikes that reach nearly a foot in length and bloom for many weeks.
Then if you shear the plant back after the first blooms are spent, you may even get another round.
Plant in full sun for the best flowers.
Attracts bees and butterflies, and is deer resistant.
Clematis ‘Adam’s Courage’
Scientific name: Clematis patens
Zone: 4 to 7
Exposure: Sun to part shade
Height: 6′
Width: 24″
Bloom time: Early summer, Late summer to fall
Flower color: Dark pink, purple
In my opinion, you can never have too many Clematis in your garden. (I’ve lost count how many I have now).
But they don’t take up much room and are very low maintenance.
Clematis ‘Adam’s Courage’ flowers heavily in early summer, then again on new wood in late summer or fall so it even has a long bloom time.
The flowers vary in color from lavender to deep fuchsia to deep violet, so it puts on quite a show.
Mojave Jewels™ ‘Sapphire’ Stonecrop
Scientific name: Sedum hybrid
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun
Height: 16″
Width: 24″
Bloom time: Late summer to fall
Flower color: Dark pink
I know what you’re thinking. Here we go with the purple foliage again.
But this time, it’s a full sun perennial. Where most of the others on my new plants list are shade plants.
In fact, with Mojave Jewels™ ‘Sapphire’ Stonecrop, the more sun it gets, the darker the color will be. And it’s heat- and drought-tolerant so it will thrive even in hot southern gardens.
Then in late summer to fall, it produces green buds that turn into bright pink flowers that pop against those dark-colored leaves.
‘Do Tell’ Peony
Scientific name: Paeonia lactiflora
Zone: 3 to 8
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Height: 3′
Width: 3′
Bloom time: Mid to late spring
Flower color: Pink
Peonies are another one of my favorite plants.
‘Do Tell’ Peony produces large, mildly-fragrant blooms with pink outside petals and a dark pink and yellow center. I think it’s absolutely stunning!
As with most peonies, they bloom best in full sun (but like afternoon shade in hot climates).
And they require some watering to thrive but are otherwise low maintenance.
They attract butterflies, and are deer and rabbit resistant.
Reblooming Hydrangea ‘Let’s Dance Sky View®‘
Scientific name: Hydrangea macrophylla x serrata
Zone: 4 to 9
Exposure: Partial sun to sun
Height: 2′ to 3′
Width: 2′ to 4′
Bloom time: Summer to fall
Flower color: Pink in alkaline soil, blue in acidic soil
Hydrangeas are yet another of my favorite plants. (I seem to have a lot of them).
This one, Hydrangea ‘Let’s Dance Sky View®‘ has a few things going for it:
- It was bred to thrive in both cold and warm climates (from Michigan to Florida),
- It reblooms consistently all season (on both old and new wood)
- It is compact so it’s perfect for smaller spaces. Which works for me since I don’t have many big spaces left 🙂
Because of its small size, it would also make a great container plant.
Like most Hydrangea macrophylla, the color of the blooms changes depending on your soil. It will have blue flowers in acidic soil and pink flowers in alkaline soil.
Seaside Serenade® Crystal Cove Hydrangea
Scientific name: Hydrangea macrophylla
Zone: 4 to 9
Exposure: Partial sun
Height: 3′ to 4′
Width: 3′ to 4′
Bloom time: Summer to fall
Flower color: Purplish pink in alkaline soil, Purple-blue in acidic soil
One look at the flowers, and I had to include Seaside Serenade® Crystal Cove Hydrangea on my 2023 new plants list.
It has frilly lace-cap blooms that are edged with purplish-pink in alkaline soil or purple-blue in acidic soil.
In both cases, the flowers start out as a lighter color and get darker as they age.
It’s also a repeat bloomer that flowers on both old and new wood, so you can have these spectacular blooms in your garden for longer.
Dragon Baby™ Panicle Hydrangea
Scientific name: Hydrangea paniculata
Zone: 3 to 8
Exposure: Full sun
Height: 3′
Width: 3′
Bloom time: Summer to fall
Flower color: Green to pink
This is the last Hydrangea on the list, I promise.
As the name implies, Dragon Baby™ Panicle Hydrangea is a dwarf variety that only grows 3′ tall.
Which is much shorter than most Hydrangea paniculata get.
But it still has the massive cone-shaped blooms that this type of Hydrangea is known for.
As with a lot of Panicle Hydrangeas, the blooms change color over the season.
In this variety, they start out lime green and then turn bright pink as they age, so you get that multi-color effect you see in the picture.
It blooms on new wood only, so cut it back by 1/3 in the spring to encourage more flowers.
Perfecto Mundo Pink Carpet™ Reblooming Azalea
Scientific name: Rhododendron x
Zone: 6b to 9
Exposure: Part sun to sun
Height: 1′ to 2′
Width: 2′ to 3′
Bloom time: Spring, Late summer to fall
Flower color: Pink
Perfecto Mundo Pink Carpet™ Reblooming Azalea is another dwarf shrub that I really like.
It is a dwarf reblooming Azalea that is evergreen and can be used as ground cover.
It blooms profusely in the spring, takes a break in early summer to grow new buds and then puts on another big show in mid summer to fall.
Since it blooms on old and new wood, giving it a light pruning immediately after its spring flowers have faded will encourage more new growth (and more flowers) later.
Reminiscent™ Pink Rose
Scientific name: Rosa x
Zone: 4 to 9
Exposure: Full sun
Height: 3′ to 4′
Width: 2′
Bloom time: Summer to fall
Flower color: Pink
I think roses are on almost everyone’s list as one of their favorite flowers.
But a lot of people don’t like to grow them because they often require a lot of work to maintain.
Reminiscent™ Pink Rose is about to change all that.
These roses are a new strain that were developed in Serbia for the best color, fragrance, flower power and performance.
It provides the classic beauty and fragrance of old roses, and reblooms all summer without requiring deadheading. All without the issues that older varieties usually come with.
The only maintenance required is to prune back 1/3 of its height and apply a granular rose fertilize in the early spring.
Sting™ Arborvitae
Scientific name: Thuja occidentalis
Zone: 3 to 8
Exposure: Part sun to sun
Height: 15′ to 20′
Width: 12″ to 18″
Bloom time: N/A (evergreen)
Flower color: N/A
The last plant on my 2023 list is an evergreen shrub that is super thin but still tall.
At just 12 to 18 inches wide, Sting™ Arborvitae can fit into very narrow garden beds, be grown in containers, or be used as an architectural element in your landscape design.
It is easy to grow and very low maintenance. (It doesn’t even require pruning).
Well, that’s it for my favorite new 2023 plants. Hopefully, you’ve found some perennials or shrubs to add to your own list.
Other plants you might like
Have comments or questions about our new plants for 2023? Tell us in the section below.
This post was originally published on January 12, 2023 but was updated with new content on August 21, 2024.
Thank you Wanda, love lots of your tempting plants and quite a few of them, not the exact variety, I have already in my garden. The one thing I’d love to have are the Peonies, however, my climate is just too hot. I’ve tried three times and eventually lost them, even trying putting ice on the ground in the winter to encourage the plants to think it is a very cold winter. Didn’t work, although I was lucky enough to get one to flower before it turned up it’s toes.
I hope your ‘extra’ purchases find a loving home in your garden. I have the same trouble whenever I go into a garden centre. Can always see something I must have.
Keep enjoying your garden. Today is going to be very hot, high 30’sC so not too much will be done today.
Regards
Pauline
Thanks, Pauline! Enjoy your summer weather, although I can understand why you’re not out in the garden with the temperatures being that high 🙂 I love peonies, too. Our climate is at the upper limit of where they do well, but I have managed to find a few varieties that will bloom here. So I’m quite happy about that.