The AP's gardening expert has a list of 10 top-performing new plants for this season

Every spring brings a new growing season and, for me and other garden communicators, dozens of not-yet-available sample plants sent by breeders and growers.

To try them out, I squeeze some into my beds and borders, tuck others into containers, and plant the rest in the Maternity Ward, a 3-foot-deep strip of soil along the side of my house. And then, I watch and evaluate all season long.

I do this so that the following year, when the plants become available at garden centers, I can tell you about the ones that performed well.

Of course, I have my favorites — we’re all drawn to certain colors and shapes and textures. But there’s no accounting for taste, so I try to put that aside and judge them on their merits.

Did they thrive? Bloom reliably? Succumb to disease or infestation? These are important things to know before plunking down your hard-earned money on the new kid on the block, no matter how pretty she is.

The plants I trialed last year are available at retail nurseries for the first time this spring. These are the ones that impressed me the most.

Suitable for horticultural zones 5-9, the the old-time cottage garden biennials with bell-shaped flowers that rise on 18-24-inch spikes are known for attracting hummingbirds and pollinators. They survived an especially harsh winter in my zone 7 garden and are blooming profusely as I write. Note: Digitalis is highly poisonous, so it should be grown out of the reach of small children and pets.

Also known as hummingbird mint, the plant is available in coral, lilac, peach, magenta and lemon. Suited for zones 7-10, it grew without issues, bloomed well for a first-year plant and returned nicely in the sunny, street-facing border outside my fence. When mature, it’s expected to reach 16-22 inches tall and 16-22 inches wide.

These stunning “million bells” plants produce lovely lemon-yellow buds that open to reveal double flowers, which take on a soft pink hue, creating a beautiful, mottled pink-and-yellow effect. Suitable for sun and part sun, the drought-tolerant plant reblooms through frost, trailing nicely over the edges of hanging baskets in full sun.

This perennial, hardy in zones 4-9, produces joy-inducing, daisy-like pink flowers with uneven petals and bright yellow centers on mounded plants from early summer through frost. Suited for full sun to part shade, the plant should reach 14” tall (26” including flower stems) and 18 inches wide.

Full disclosure: I’m partial to Echinacea (coneflowers) of every color and size. But I found this variety to be especially cool for its white-tipped pink petals that are reminiscent of a French manicure. The flowers land at different heights on mounded plants that attract pollinators and bloom nearly nonstop from summer through fall. Hardy in zones 4-9, they’re expected to reach 20-24 inches tall and 24 inches wide at maturity. And like most coneflowers, they’re considered deer-resistant.

These airy plants remain covered in deep blue flowers with white centers all summer long, filling sunny containers densely. They would also work well as edging plants or in rock and crevice gardens. Treated as annuals, the plants are 8-12 inches tall with a 10-12-inch spread, and are more heat-tolerant than earlier Lobelias.

These petunias bloom continuously through frost as a container or bedding plant. Their ruffled petals set them apart from standard petunias, and each flower’s fading white center provides eye-catching detail against its cotton-candy pink petals. Expect them to grow 6-12 inches tall and trail up to 24 inches in a pot.

This one demands another disclaimer: I’ve never really cared for begonias (something about their thick stems). But that all changed when I received this unique variety with a spreading habit and dense branching that allowed cheery, yellow-centered white flowers to completely obscure those stems. The plants grow 6-10 inches tall and 20-27 inches wide in either sun or shade.

Beacon Impatiens are always a great choice for their resistance to downy mildew, a fatal disease that often plagues the straight species Impatiens walleriana. These new varieties produce vibrant yet elegant and understated flowers that perform like champs in full to part shade. They spread abundantly and bloomed from spring through fall. They would work equally well in beds or trailing over the sides of containers, growing 14-18 inches tall and 12-14 inches wide.

These bi-colored beauties spread while retaining a somewhat mounded shape, so they didn’t sprawl out of control, as some petunias might. And their two-toned, boldly colored blossoms with a star-shaped center pattern commands attention without clashing with nearby plants. Grow them in full sun and expect them to reach 7-10 inches tall and 20-30 inches wide.

Jessica Damiano writes regular gardening columns for The Associated Press. She publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. Sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

This image provided by Ball Horticultural Company shows a newly introduced Hula White begonia in a hanging basket. (Ball Horticultural Company via AP)

This image provided by Ball Horticultural Company shows Blue Pearl Beacon, a new Impatiens plant for 2026. (Ball Horticultural Company via AP)

This image provided by Terra Nova Nurseries shows Anemone HARLEQUIN Cameo, a new introduction for 2026. (Terra Nova Nurseries Via AP)

This image provided by Proven Winners shows Laguna® Royale Blue Pearl Lobelia, a new annual for 2026. (Proven Winners via AP)

This image provided by Proven Winners shows Supertunia Mini Vista® Pink Cloud®, a new petunia variety for 2026. (Proven Winners via AP)

This combination of photos show Digitalis Arctic Fox plants in lemon cream, left, and rose. (Ball Horticultural Company via AP)

This image provided by Terra Nova Nurseries shows Echinacea French Tips, a new introduction for 2026. (Terra Nova Nurseries Via AP)

This image provided by Proven Winners shows Superbells Magic® Double Grapefruit Calibrachoa, a new annual for 2026, in full bloom. (Proven Winners via AP)

This combination of images show Mexicana Summerlong Agastache in coral, from left, lilac, and lemon. (Ball Horticultural Company via AP)

Voters across Maine, Nevada, South Carolina and North Dakota will cast their ballots Tuesday in another day of primary elections in America, but much of the political world will be focused on Maine’s high-stakes U.S. Senate contest.

The results aren't in question. Neither Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins nor Democratic challenger Graham Platner faces serious opposition for their party’s nomination. And yet Tuesday marks an especially significant moment for Platner, the embattled veteran and oyster farmer, who's fighting to rebuild his credibility in a campaign rocked by controversy.

Elsewhere, President Donald Trump’s clout within his party will be tested anew in states like South Carolina and Nevada, where he’s endorsed his favored candidates. Democrats hope to build momentum in Nevada in their broader push to reclaim key governor’s seats.

Here's the latest:

As Nevada voters participate in primary elections Tuesday, the state Democratic Party has launched a website — www.thelombardotrumpway.com/ — to highlight GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo’s connections to the White House.

The site is an effort to connect the governor to the economic fallout from Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war. Lombardo is considered one of the most vulnerable governors in the country.

The Democrats vying to challenge Lombardo include state Attorney General Aaron Ford, who has the backing of the Democratic congressional delegation and former Vice President Kamala Harris. He would be the first Black man elected governor of Nevada. He’s facing Democrat Alexis Hill, a county commissioner in northern Nevada who campaigned as a candidate willing to shake things up.

Republicans have held all statewide-elected positions in South Carolina for more than a decade, but several Democrats are competing in primaries Tuesday for some of the state’s top posts.

Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in 2022, is vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Lindsey Graham. Also in that contest is Brandon Brown, a former HBCU vice president and owner of funeral homes in Greenville.

In the governor’s race, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson and Greenville businessman Billy Webster are running in the Democratic primary. They’re joined by Mullins McLeod, an attorney who withstood calls from party leaders that he quit the race following an arrest last year for disorderly conduct.

The South Carolina senator’s bid for a fifth term coincides with the war he’s pushed for years. Graham has a close relationship with Trump and they speak regularly about the conflict.

But as voters mull whether to send Graham back to Washington, they’re also reckoning with the ongoing war, which has caused fissures among some of Trump’s most vocal supporters.

Graham frequently pushes Trump to take even more aggressive action, at one point suggesting that the U.S. military seize Kharg Island, which is critical for Iran’s oil industry.

Rep. Nancy Mace says one of her supporters was assaulted at a Monday event with Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, one of her rivals in South Carolina’s governor’s race.

The man was escorted from Evette’s rally, then walked the sidewalk speaking into a megaphone. Then another man wearing an Evette campaign hat is seen on video grabbing the device from his hands.

Court records show the Evette supporter, Blake Garrison Kirsch, was charged with third-degree assault and battery Tuesday. No attorney was listed. Evette’s campaign said Kirsch was not a staffer and had been removed from the campaign’s finance committee since the altercation.

Asked about the incident Tuesday, Evette told reporters after voting in Taylors she was “saddened” by the situation and doesn’t “tolerate violence on any level.”

Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill faces state Attorney General Aaron Ford, whose fundraising has dwarfed hers —$2.3 million compared to Hill’s $100,000. He also has the support of the entire Democratic congressional delegation and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Hill, a local official in the county that includes Reno, has run a grassroots campaign, promising to shake up the status quo in the Democratic Party. Ford has largely ignored her, fixing his sights on the November election.

The winner will most likely face Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, who's running for reelection.

Brenda Wood said she voted for Republicans in the primary because she doesn’t believe Platner’s campaign promises and expressed dissatisfaction with his party generally.

“I think the Democrats have been a disgrace to Maine for years,” she said.

Annette Babcock, also from Sullivan, said she supported Platner, whom she said she’s met a few times and likes because he’s not an established politician.

She did not sound concerned over recent controversies surrounding his campaign.

“The Republicans don’t have much moral high ground to stand on when they’re criticizing him for what he’s done when Trump is a convicted felon,” she said.

The road for the Democrats to take back the U.S. Senate goes through Maine. That road starts today.

The Democratic Party needs to net four seats to retake the Senate majority, and thinks some of its best chances are in states like Maine, North Carolina, Alaska and Ohio. The party is set to officially pick its nominee in Maine on Tuesday.

Oyster farmer and combat veteran Graham Platner is the party’s presumptive nominee because his main rival, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign weeks ago. Mills remains on the ballot. David Costello, who hasn't campaigned aggressively, is also on the ballot.

After voting at her precinct in Taylors on Tuesday, South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette said she was confident about how her campaign for governor had gone.

But if she doesn’t win the primary outright and has to campaign for two more weeks in a runoff, the Republican said she’d work hard to win over voters who didn’t initially support her.

President Donald Trump is backing Evette’s bid and the candidate said that, while she thinks that will help her in this “proud Trump state,” she’ll focus primarily on her own stances, like cutting taxes and regulations.

Platner’s campaign has spent months navigating controversies about a tattoo of a Nazi symbol that he had covered up and his history of inflammatory online postings.

Platner has said he was drunk on leave with some fellow Marines many years ago when he got a skull and crossbones tattoo on his chest. He had it covered up last year after saying he learned that it was a Nazi image.

There has also been much attention on his former social media and Reddit posts, which were dismissive of military sexual assaults, insulting of police and rural residents and used homophobic slurs, for which he's apologized.

Nevada’s primary will give an indication of the influence the president maintains in the battleground state.

In 2024, Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate in 20 years to win Nevada. For Tuesday’s primary, he's backed candidates in three of the state’s four congressional races:

Trump has a string of victories for his endorsed candidates so far this primary season. That includes those he endorsed in an effort to take down Republicans he deemed insufficiently loyal.

The GOP primary for the 2nd District appears to be the most contentious. Trump’s endorsed candidate faces James Settelmeyer, a rancher with a long political resume who has the backing of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and the retiring incumbent.

Trump’s endorsement is a powerful factor in a state where Republicans dominate politics.

U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, state Attorney General Alan Wilson and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette all showcased their proximity to the president. Mace worked for his 2016 campaign, Norman votes with him in the House, Wilson traveled to New York City when Trump was on trial, and Evette hired one of his advisers for her campaign.

In the end, Trump endorsed Evette in the primary’s closing days, also saying on social media that “A BIG added plus” was that Henry McMaster Jr. — the sitting governor’s son — could be Evette’s running mate.

McMaster is close to Trump, backing him in 2016 when much of the Republican establishment was hesitant to embrace the New York businessman and reality television star. So when McMaster endorsed Evette in February, it was a sign that Trump’s support could be on the way.

Many Maine Democrats are voting to pick a candidate for the 2nd District, which Republicans see as a key chance to pick up a seat in the narrowly divided chamber.

Incumbent Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat, is not seeking reelection. The 2nd District includes much of rural Maine and Trump has had great success there at the top of the ticket in the last three presidential elections.

The Republicans’ presumptive nominee is former Gov. Paul LePage. Democrats will choose between former Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap; state Sen. Joe Baldacci; former U.S. Senate candidate Jordan Wood; and social worker Paige Loud.

The Nevada Secretary of State’s Office has launched a website designed to provide transparency around mail ballots.

The website shows how many were mailed, returned and accepted. It also notes the number requiring fixes by voters. Nevada mails a ballot to every registered voter unless a voter opts out.

It’s one of several swing states where Trump disputed his loss in 2020 with false claims of fraud. The secretary of state at the time, a Republican, investigated various claims and found no evidence of any widespread fraud. Trump also has repeatedly attacked the use of mail ballots generally.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, said he created the website to increase transparency around Nevada’s elections and provide a way for voters to see in real-time how many ballots are outstanding.

Lindsay Robinson, with daughter Scottie, walks to cast her ballots in the Maine Primary, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Mary Saunders looks over her choices one last time before casting her ballots in the Maine Primary, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)