What to plant in 2024: Annuals, perennials and vegetables to look for at your garden centre

Garden centres are in full bloom, brimming with plants that visually shout "pick me" as you browse. After the greyness of winter, I find simply standing in the aisles and breathing it all in to be a balm. However, the abundance of choice can be overwhelming. So I like to make an initial visit where I'll purchase a few things I know I need but also make note of others to ponder. This helps me avoid coming home with a carload of plants and nowhere to put them (it's happened — a lot). 

Most nurseries will have everything grouped according to growing conditions — full sun versus full shade and well-draining versus damp soils. Always read plant tags carefully, and ask the staff questions if you're unsure about a plant's requirements or growth habits. Even a quick online search can help inform your decision.

Below are some new varieties I'm excited about for this gardening season, along with recommendations for plants you may not have tried before.

Delosperma Ocean Sunset Orange Glow

My garden is home to a few trial plants each year, where I get to test out a plant from a breeder before it hits garden centres the following spring, and it's fun to note how they perform. I had a few standouts last year. The first is this vibrant Delosperma Ocean Sunset Orange Glow. The flower petals have fuchsia tips and orange-yellow centres and are surrounded by succulent leaves. My three plants spread nicely in an area where I grow sedums as ground cover. These drought-tolerant perennials loved their hot, sunny home, and the plants were covered in blooms well into fall. 

Lovely Sky lavender

Sometimes when I'm gardening in the summer, I'll catch the scent of lavender wafting on the breeze. (Either that or my nose is right up against the plant as I try to take photos of the bees enjoying the flowers!) Lovely Sky lavender blooms throughout the season and is winter-hardy; this is important to note as some types of lavender are considered annuals in certain parts of Canada. Plant it in well-draining soil in an area of the garden that gets full sun. I like using lavender as a border plant in my front yard garden. It can also be planted in containers — just be sure to protect it over the winter.

Premium Sun Coral Candy coleus

I'm a sucker for vibrant, colourful foliage, and Premium Sun Coral Candy coleus looks as though someone has taken their brightest markers and coloured in the leaves. The outer part of the leaf is a vibrant lime green. Then inside, dark burgundy surrounds a bright pink centre with purple-ish veining. It's stunning. This coleus is another plant I trialled last year and it thrived on the sunny edge of my deck in a pot, and in my front yard urn that gets afternoon shade. I wish I had brought this annual inside to overwinter it so I could enjoy it again this year. It's also the first seed coleus to be an All-America Selections winner (AAS trial gardens are situated throughout North America, including in Dundas, Ont., where I live). 

Grin and Tonic reblooming hydrangea

If you're swayed by clever names, add this hydrangea to the mix in your garden. This bigleaf hydrangea is perfect for a small space in partial sun — it reaches about two to three feet tall and wide. The flowers change from lime green to bright white and bloom from spring through summer. I love big bouquets of fresh hydrangeas, but I also have some dried ones from last summer in a vase on my mantel.

Tik Tok Apricot calibrachoa

Contrary to my assumption, this calibrachoa is not named after the popular social media app but rather for the hands of a clock, inspired by the stripes in the centre of the flowers. There are so many calibrachoas (also known as million bells) to choose from every year that you really can't go wrong. I usually just go with the one that pairs well with the other container plants in my cart. This new variety has peachy red petals with yellow "clock hands." What I love about this annual is that it makes a great spiller cascading over the side of a pot, it fills in well, and it's self-cleaning, meaning no deadheading required. It's also heat-tolerant, so it won't wither on hot, sunny days.

Orange Glow Knock Out rose

I appreciate the work that's gone into modern roses: they are hardier, more disease-resistant and pretty low-maintenance. Orange Glow, with its peachy orange flowers, will bloom from spring right through the first fall frost. The shrub will eventually reach about four and a half feet in height and spread to about three feet wide. 

Golden Child Arborvitae

The yellow hue of this cedar would absolutely light up a landscape — especially if you set it against darker evergreen or deciduous shrubs. In winter, Golden Child takes on a light bronze hue. Plant it in full to partial sun. The eventual height is between one and a half and two feet, and it doesn't require pruning (though you may want to trim lightly to shape it).

Mini Purple daikon radish

This mini daikon radish was a new seed offering in 2023 from one of my favourite companies. It was one of the best vegetables I grew last year. I planted some in the spring and more in late summer for a fall harvest. I even found some that grew over the winter! They grow to be about three to five inches long, and there are some pretty cool pink and white patterns inside. I love slicing them very thin to make quick refrigerator pickles that I add to the salmon rice bowls I have on rotation. 

Love Gourmansun Sunrise tomato

Every year I try several new tomatoes. Last year's favourite, which I trialled for 2024, was Love Gourmansun Sunrise with its interesting yellow-orange-red fruit. I wish I had taken a photo of it sliced open because the colour inside is just as unique and interesting as the outside. This beefsteak tomato is perfect for topping sandwiches and burgers. 

Shop for new-to-you plants

I'm not always shopping for the next big thing. I've also been striving to fill my gardens with more native plants. Some new favourites that I've added to my yard over the past few years include prairie smoke, Pennsylvania sedge, zigzag goldenrod and liatris. 

In my search for wildflower seeds, I've come across blends that can be planted as part of a property's fire mitigation plan — worth looking into if you live in an area prone to wildfires. I'm always learning something new, even if it's not the flashy, trendy stuff!