Best New Garden Plants: Annuals & Tender Perennials

Get ready to meet your new garden must-haves for 2025! This year’s lineup of new plant introductions is packed with eye-catching annuals and tender perennials. From vibrant container fillers to border-brightening beauties, these new varieties are sure to inspire. Let’s dive in!

1. Monarch Magic Floss Flower (Ageratum houstonium)

With a wide, spreading habit and abundant blooms, Monarch Magic is a feast for butterflies from spring until frost. Grow it at the front of the border, in a hanging basket, or spill over the edge of a container.

2. Glory Days Pink Bicolor Geranium (Pelargonium hybrid)

Glory Days is a cross between ivy and zonal geraniums, so the flower-filled plants have a slightly spreading habit and don’t become leggy. There are two colors in this new series so far: the red-orange bicolor in the photo and the pink bicolor.

3. Sunfinity Double Yellow Annual Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

The presence of sunny yellow double flowers on well-branched plants means that you get non-stop summer color from Sunfinity Double Yellow. Also, powdery mildew can sometimes be a problem for sunflowers, and this hybrid has good resistance, so the leaves stay healthy from planting until frost.

4. Startiva Blue Fanflower (Scaevola aemula)

Instead of the traditional fan-like flower, Startiva Blue has star-shaped flowers with petals. These heat and drought tolerant plants will keep your containers colorful from late spring to fall. You can also find Stardiva in pink or white.

5. City Lights Apricot Glow Dahlia (Dahlia Hybrid)

The bright flowers of Apricot Glow really pop against its rich green-purple foliage from late summer until frost. To keep the foliage that rich, dark color, grow it in a spot with plenty of sunlight.

6. Sun Parasol Double Pink Blush Mandevilla (Mandevilla Hybrid)

Here’s a mandevilla with double pink flowers on bushy, upright plants that are easy to grow in containers. This series blooms earlier than others, keeping your deck or patio colorful from spring to fall.

7. MiniFamous Uno Funtopia Blue Calibrachoa (Calibrachoa Hybrid)

A new color to the MiniFamous Uno series, Funtopia Blue features double petals and a fun lavender-blue and white color combination. Each plant has a variety of shapes, so containers will be interesting from spring to frost.

8. Magic Star Cordyline (Cordyline australis)

Add drama to your garden with this colorful cordyline, which retains its color year-round. It makes a striking addition to containers or borders. In areas where it is not cold-hardy, it can be brought indoors to grow on a sunny windowsill all winter.

9. x Beaugonia Saffran Glow begonia (Begonia hybrid)

More heat and drought tolerant than traditional tuberous begonias, this new begonia series is a versatile plant for hanging baskets or containers on a sunny deck or patio. These tough, beautiful plants don’t set seeds, so they have plenty of energy to produce lots of flowers throughout the growing season. Choose from 11 colors, including the Saffran Glow above.

10. Unicorn Pink cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

You’ll get a bountiful harvest of sweet, crack-resistant cherry tomatoes from summer through fall with Unicorn Pink. This is an indeterminate tomato, meaning it will grow quite tall, so give it plenty of room and plan to use a tomato cage or stakes.