You may think I only search for the neatest, newest and rarest plants in the Dallas Arboretum Trials program, but what I’m really looking for are the best plants, and that includes the best varieties of such garden standards as lantana, petunia, impatiens, begonia, pansy and dianthus.

Many believe that all varieties of these garden standards are pretty much the same. They aren’t. I test hundreds of varieties of our most common plants looking for that new variety or old standby that is the “best of the best.”

Annual-type dianthus is probably second only to pansies in popularity in the South for cool-season color. Whether planted in fall and over-wintered, or in early spring, few plants give such a reliable performance.

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