The heat-loving and low-maintenance Tutti Frutti series is easy on the eyes and easy to grow. Beneficial attributes include uniform flowering, a long bloom time, great plant habit for container production and robust, disease-resistant foliage. - Paul Pilon

This summer staple series is a breeze to produce and boasts an abundance of colorful flower clusters. Once established, 'Raspberry Summer' is also fairly drought tolerant. - By Paul Pilon

Black Scallop performs well as a groundcover in mass plantings, perennial borders, pots and mixed containers. - Paul Pilon

This award-winning columbine series is uniform in growth and flowering habit. Its dwarf size reaches 10-12 inches in containers and 15-18 inches in the landscape. - Paul Pilon

Twenty-first century breeding has made this old-fashioned plant popular again. The cultivars in the Swan series produce an abundance of large, spurred blooms above mounds of attractive, medium-green foliage. - Paul Pilon

With its abundance of rose-pink blossoms and reliable garden performance, this cool-season rock cress radiates strong flower power. - By Paul Pilon

Lily Looks, a new series of Asiatic lilies, contains numerous dwarf cultivars with various flower colorations that are all well suited for commercial production. - Paul Pilon

With perennials gaining popularity as season extenders, this aster can be marketed alongside fall bedding plants. - Paul Pilon

Cultivars in the astilbe Astary series do not require vernalization for flowering. These cultivars also have very predictable flowering, which makes commercial production more practical for growers. - By Paul Pilon

This deer-resistant variety also attracts hummingbirds and can be utilized in your marketing programs. Visions' is not a patented cultivar and can be propagated by any grower. There are two fairly new introductions with the Visions name, 'Vision in Pink' and 'Vision in Red'; these are patented cultivars. - Paul Pilon

This Japanese painted fern is one of the easiest ferns to grow, both for the landscape and in containers. With so many landscape uses, ease of production and wide availability, it is no wonder Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum' is gaining popularity and receiving national recognition. Pictum was the recipient of the 2002 Growers' Choice Award by the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association and most recently selected by the Perennial Plant Association as the 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year. - Paul Pilon