Featured Four: Favorites from Four Star Greenhouses Display Gardens

Heidi Lindberg<wollaege@msu.edu> and Caitlin Splawski<splawski@msu.edu>, Michigan State University Extension - September 12, 2024

Looking for tried and true performers for the upcoming season? Read Part 2 of our series about favorites from this year’s Michigan Garden Plant Tour trial sites.

Purple flowers. — Photo by Caitlin Splawski, MSU Extension

Every year Michigan State University and Michigan’s leading young plant producers host a free open house at their trial sites and display gardens to give growers, landscapers and retail operators the opportunity to learn about a wide range of ornamental crops. Industry professionals can see for themselves which new varieties perform the best under various conditions, including in the ground and in containers. The tour lasts for two weeks and was held this year from July 29-Aug. 9, 2024.

Part 1 of this series covered Michigan State University Extension’s favorites at the trial garden at DGI Propagators. Part 2 will feature the favorites from Four Star Greenhouses.

Featured Four at Four Star Greenhouses

Four Star Greenhouse offers a tour through their amazing display gardens. This year’s display starts by taking you through their new arrivals for 2025 displayed in both aquapot containers as well as in hanging baskets. You’re able to get a full picture of what these new plants have to offer in containers alone as well as in combination with other suggested varieties. You then move into display areas that feature new varieties within in-ground display beds. Continuing through the garden you’ll also encounter Proven Winners standard as well as previous years’ award winners. Several 2025 new varieties stood out:

Petunia Supertunia Tiara Pink – Proven Winners
Mealycup Sage Unplugged White – Proven Winners
Heliotrope Aromagica Purple – Proven Winners
Purslane Mojave Tangerine Improved – Proven Winners

Petunia: Supertunia Tiara Pink

There’s another Supertunia to put on your radar this year, Supertunia Tiara Pink Petunia (Photos 1-2). Before I even got out of my car, this one caught my eye. This vigorous petunia reaches up to 12 inches in height and up to 2 feet wide. The flower touts a luminescent glow emanating from the center, a tiara atop the princess pink flowers.

Photos 1 and 2. Supertunia Tiara Pink Petunia catches my eye from the parking lot. Photos by Caitlin Splawski, MSU Extension.

Mealycup Sage Unplugged White

It’s not often that white flowers steal the show, but the new Unplugged White Salvia (Photo 3) was a standout, a favorite of mine and the pollinators. In the display beds it was featured with best sellers Truffula Pink Gomphrena, Graceful Grasses Purple Fountain Grass and ColorBlaze Newly Noir Coleus (Photo 4).

Photos 3 and 4. Unplugged White Salvia alongside best sellers Truffula Pink Gomphrena, Graceful Grasses Purple Fountain Grass and ColorBlaze Newly Noir Coleus. Photos by Caitlin Splawski, MSU Extension.

Heliotrope Aromagica Purple

Another pollinator favorite that I also admired for its top performance was Aromagica Purple Heliotropium arborescens (Photos 5-6). In addition to being a pollinator magnet, the large, deep purple inflorescences are fragrant and well-branched. Even as some blossoms were passing, new ones were developing right overtop, giving the plant a very clean appearance with little to no maintenance.

Photos 5 and 6. Aromagica Purple Heliotropium featured a well-branched habit and tidy appearance. Photos by Caitlin Splawski, MSU Extension.

Purslane Mojave Tangerine Improved

Last but not least, Mojave Tangerine Portulaca umbraticola (Photos 7-8) showed incredible garden performance. Not only was the size of the blooms impressive, the richness of the orange against the deep green color of the foliage makes it a great addition to any garden border.

Photos 7 and 8. Mojave Tangerine Portulaca Improved pops amongst the sea of Truffula Pink Gomphrena behind its flashy border. Photos by Caitlin Splawski, MSU Extension.

Some other standouts from the Four Star’s display gardens were their Totally Tempted Vivid Violet and Richly Red Cuphea, the Superbells Double Vintage Coral Calibrachoa, and Bluebird Nemesia Improved.

Check out the other articles in our series for more favorites of 2024:

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).