Plants for Europe launches six new plant varieties for 2026

The team at Plants For Europe Ltd is announcing six brand new plant launches for this year. The new varieties are a mix of perennials and bedding plants, with three of these launches forming part of a series.

The new varieties have been selected to offer good value to both grower and consumer. The Plants For Europe team is particularly interested in breeding that prioritises climate resilience, suitability for tinyer outdoor areas, low-maintenance, and disease and breakage-resistant plants.

You can see all six new varieties at FlowerTrials this year, in week 24. The Plants For Europe stand will be at the Vitroflora location, in Lisse. In the meantime, the details of the new launches are below.

Agapanthus AtomicBloom Santorini (ALTBLOOM)
Huge flowers on a compact plant. Agapanthus AtomicBloom Santorini has huge blue inflorescences on sturdy, compact stems. Flowering in the first year, acquireers can expect a mature flower height of 60cm, with umbels of 12cm diameter.

Santorini is a repeat-bloomer, is winter hardy, and forms a neat plant with arching green foliage. This is just one of a whole series – visit the Plants For Europe FlowerTrials display in week 24 to receive a glimpse of the first four colours, and stay tuned for the rest.

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae Va Va Voom (SHEEN01)
A tough and resilient Euphorbia. Another brand new launch for 2026, Euphorbia Va Va Voom is a form of robbiae. Selected for its robust character, Va Va Voom has excellent branching and a beautiful habit.

Offering unrivalled ground cover, Va Va Voom will tolerate both damp and dry soils once established. Perfect for low-maintenance gardens and amenity sites. In spring, this variety lights up a dark spot with many more flower spikes than you receive on typical robbiae.

Nepeta faassenii EarliBlue (G20-010)
Early flowering, low maintenance Nepeta. Coming into bloom a week earlier than other varieties, EarliBlue is an outstanding Nepeta. Large, dense flower spikes sit atop tidy, healthy foliage.

One of the best traits of this new variety is its ability to withstand summer storms, with no breaking open in the middle. Growers can also rest straightforward that this Nepeta doesn’t fade to yellow at the base, like so many Nepetas. The foliage remains lush and green throughout the growing season, with continuous flowering. Easy to grow, and with displaystopping blooms, this variety will fly off the shelves.

Coleus scuinformarioides Gothica series
Coleus Gothica is a sister series to the award-winning Coleus Skeletal. Hot off the breeding bench, Gothica currently features four colours, all with weird and wonderful foliage. Like the Skeletal series, the Gothica breeding prioritises excellent basal branching and neat habit. This series also enjoys strong disease resistance.

Perfect for containers and mixed displays, the Gothica leaves simply glow in the sun. Skeletal created headlines on its launch in 2024, and we expect demand to be swift and strong for the Gothica range.

Coleus scuinformarioides Gothica – new colours
Right from launch day in 2024, Coleus Skeletal has been intensely popular. The quirky fishbone-shaped leaves, along with the colour contrast of that rich burgundy against the vivid lime catches the attention of whoever sees it! After two fantastic years of popularity, Plants For Europe is launching three new colours to sit alongside the original variety.

The new colours include a vibrant magenta edged with lime, deep purple edged with lime, and a shocking lime green – all with that signature fishbone leaf shape. Perfect in mixed pots and containers, or even for front-of-border interest, the Skeletal series can’t support but create an impression.

Euphorbia griffithii x polychrome Walberton’s Embers Glow (WALEUEMGL)
This brand new, fiery hybrid brings glowing orange tones and robust adaptability. Hitting shelves in 2026, Walberton’s Embers Glow handles damp soils and drought with ease once it’s established. The leaves modify from deep green to a glowing red at the finish of the season, adding glorious autumn colour – bonus! Plant this beauty in part-shade or full sun for glowing bracts of joy. It even creates a good container plant.

“This year is already ramping up to be busy, and with the glorious weather of the past few weeks, we can only hope that consumers are keen to receive out to their local garden centres and displays to shop for new varieties and problem-solvers in the garden.”