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The new seed catalogs began appearing in your mailbox just minutes (it seems) after you'd flipped the calendar to 2008. Just a few weeks from now, garden centers will fill up with flats of transplants ready for your garden. Wherever you buy plants and seeds, you'll be hearing about the many "new and improved" varieties they are offering this year.
They tempt you with promises of bigger yields, tastier fruit, more brilliant and longer-lasting colors, and less care. But are the new varieties truly an improvement over those you've grown and loved in your garden? Will they perform as touted in your conditions?
No need to worry: We tested them out for you. Check out the varieties that stood up to our tests in 2007.
Top Performers
We tested more than 70 varieties this season, and when we tasted and assessed all of them, we identified these 13 as winners.
Tomatoes We recommend three unique varieties:
1. Smoky-flavored 'Japanese Trifele'
2. Prolific 'Una Hartsock',with tiny plums that are less sugary than most cherries.
3. 'Polbig', which earned its spot by filling its petite frame with a heavy load of fruit while remaining front-yard presentable.
More Favorites:
1.'Orange Chiffon' chard, another edible beauty, was (almost) too pretty to pick.
2.'Flavorburst' pepper pumped out thick-walled, mild, BIG peppers from midsummer on.
3. Our bean champ was pole bean 'Garrafol Oro' , which bore flat, sweet pods for weeks.
4. 'Sunbeam' squash earned a bug-beater reputation, producing consistently in spite of marauding squash bugs. Pick them young and stew with tomatoes.
5. Lovely 'Danyelle' combined looks with a sturdy disposition. We like that in a lettuce.
6. The come-from-behind winner of 2007, 'Purple Peacock' broccoli/kale, looks like kale but acts more like broccoli. Braise the tender buds lightly in olive oil.
Border Beauties:
1. Our favorite new flower was 'Northern Lights' pentas, with its twinkly, lavender blooms atop 2-foot plants that never needed watering.
2. 'Apricot Blush' zinnia won raves for the dusky blush color it turns just past its prime.
3. Variegated 'Cameo Elegance' morning glory will adorn your arbor, not engulf it.
4. Finally, either the weather was perfect for heliotropes, or 'Marino 2000' is the perfect heliotrope.
*Want more? Get the results from the past 3 summers from the section "In This Article".
