PDSI to unveil two brands and more at MANTS

Plant Development Services, Inc. (PDSI) is preparing to unveil two new brands and two much-anticipated new varieties within their Sunset Plant Collection and Southern Living Plant Collection brands during MANTS 2023 in Baltimore. MANTS visitors look for landscape and garden solutions to wow their residential and commercial customers. These nothing-but-business attendees need look no further than PDSI’s booth #33-36.

Better Boxwood

The debut brand, Better Boxwood, is the first collection of boxwood scientifically bred for its ability to resist blight, and is the result of more than two decades of breeding and trials in Europe. PDSI is proud to partner with Everde Growers to offer liners to growers now. The series will be appearing on the consumer market in fall 2023. The Better Boxwood series’ four blight-resistant varieties will offer unique sizes and forms to fill any Boxwood need:

• Buxus Skylight: 6-8 ft. tall and 3-4 ft. wide, fast growing with medium-green leaves. Suitable for topiary and medium hedges.
• Buxus Babylon Beauty: 3 ft. tall and 4-5 ft. wide, light green leaves with low spreading growth. Suitable for groundcover or layering.
• Buxus Heritage: 3-4 ft. tall and 2-3 ft. wide, dark green leaves. Similar to Buxus sempervirens but slightly more compact. Ideal as a hedge or pruning form.
• Buxus Renaissance: 1-2 ft. tall and 1-2 ft. wide, low-growing with dark green leaves. Ideal for low hedges.
  

Butterfly Candy Buddleia

Both butterflies and gardeners are in for a sweet treat in the spring of 2023. PDSI’s retail debut of Butterfly Candy Buddleia will offer a collection of five flower-filled yet compact-growing new varieties of butterflies’ favorite delight, butterfly bush.

Pollinators will flock to Butterfly Candy varieties for their nectar-bearing treasures, but what will attract garden consumers? Color, bloom-power and dwarf habit.

A habit of just 2-3’ tall and wide requires no pruning while serving as the perfect stature for small garden spaces and porch container plantings. Thriving in full-sun conditions in USDA Zones 5-10, all Butterfly Candy varieties are waterwise once they become established.

The collection’s imaginative branding and easy, breezy care score high for customer appeal. Each of the collection’s five vibrant varieties is paired with an eye-catching, color-coordinated pot and playfully named varieties, including Lil’ Coconut with warm white flowers, Lil’ Bubblegum with pastel light pink flowers, Lil’ Raspberry with electric pink flowers in fuchsia tones, Lil’ Lavender offering soft purple flowers, and finally the bold bright purple flowers of Lil’ Grape.

Two new varieties to premiere

Additional highlights from PDSI brands set to debut at MANTS 2023 include:

Bohemian Beauty Leucothoe. Another variegated evergreen, Bohemian Beauty tops off at 4-ft. tall and wide, making it the perfect pick for foundations and hedges in USDA Zones 6a-9b. Spring’s new growth flushes with pink, green and white-speckled leaves, while small white, bell-shaped flowers offer that extra touch. A special bonus: It’s deer-resistant!

Abelia Suntastic Peach. This abelia’s unique warm apricot-variegated foliage shines all four seasons, but especially in the cooler months of winter. Spring’s new foliage unveils as a warm yellow and green, highlighting its vivid crimson stems. Fragrant white tubular blooms appear in midsummer and continue through fall. This USDA Zone 6 variety is compact, reaching just 3-ft. by 5-ft. tall and wide.

Bohemian Beauty Leucothoe and Abelia Suntastic Peach will both be available for the trade beginning in 2023 and for the consumer market for 2024 through the Sunset Plant Collection and the Southern Living Plant Collection.

Learn about these fantastic new garden performers and PDSI’s entire catalog of varieties while attending MANTS at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland, Jan. 11-13, at Booth #33-36. For more information about the show, visit www.mants.com.