The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) has announced its Gold Medal plants for 2021. Each year, the Society selects plants that are easy to find, easy to grow, and that have value for wildlife. they are particularly suited to the Mid-Atlantic region (zones 5-7), but many can also be easily grown elsewhere. This year's winners:
Hydrangea paniculata Bobo®
This small hydrangea, just 30-36 inches tall, has heavy pure white blooms that fade to pink and persist will into the fall. It blooms on new wood, so it will withstand hard freezes and over-pruning. Great for the border or even in a container. Full sun, part shade, deer resistant, too.
Cercis canadensis 'Appalachian Red'
What's not to like about a native redbud tree with bright pink flowers? This one gets 15-25 feet tall, it's great for smaller spaces, as a yard specimen or a street tree. Full sun to part shade, deer resistant.
Paeonia 'Bartzella'
This is a peony that everyone will want. It's a hybrid between a tree and herbaceous peony, with tons of fragrant brilliant yellow flowers, and it does not require staking. It'll grow to four feet high. Sun, medium water, deer resistant.
Sarcococca hookeriana 'Fragrant Valley'
Sweetbox is always a terrific groundcover, but this cultivar is more compact than others, perfect for dry shade. It has fragrant white flowers in in early spring, and the evergreen foliage is a lovely, glossy green. It spreads slowly and takes shade to part shade, medium to low wter, and it's also deer resistant.
You can see all of this year's Gold Medal winners here.
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