Let's stay in this winter holiday mode for now and refrain from discussing anything too serious. There's plenty of time for more meaningful discourse in January.

Every garden magazine I've read lately has featured lists of plants–everything from Lee's Favorite Lettuce Varieties to Seven Popular Holiday Plants to 10 Flowering Evergreen Shrubs–and they inspired me to create my own. It's a hodge-podge list–some are herbaceous, some woody, some aren't even hardy in our region (blasphemous!). But this is my list, after all.

~ Baptisia (Baptisia australis) was chosen by The Perennial Plant Association as the 2010 Perennial Plant of the Year–an award long overdue. This is a long-lived, easy-to-grow member of the pea family and a winner in all seasons. Foliage is a lovely, soft, grayish, blue-green. Deep indigo blue flower spikes bloom in June and later mature into showy pods.

~ Blue Muffin Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum 'Christom') is a 2010 Plant of Merit awarded by the Missouri Botanic Garden. Viburnums are a large genus of wonderful shrubs–many of which are native. The fine-textured foliage is eye-catching and showy white flowers mature into showy blue fruit which birds love.

~ 'Bonfire Scarlet' Begonia (Begonia boliviensis 'Bonfire Scarlet') will be a 2010 introduction from Selecta First Class. No one could have missed the orange-flowered cultivar, 'Bonfire', which was in every greenhouse last year. This plant is similar in its exuberant growth habit and profusion of blossoms but the flowers are, instead, vivid red.

~ Compact Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia 'Compacta') was recognized by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society as a 2010 Gold Medal Plant. I agree! Summersweet is a fabulous shrub that should be planted more. The tidy foliage is deep, glossy green and the showy upright flowers are 8 - 12" in length and, as the name indicates, smell sweet.

~ Katsura Tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum). I got to know this big tree when I lived in Michigan and have always admired its gorgeous heart-shaped foliage that emerges reddish-purple in spring, matures to bluish-green and, finally, turns apricot and gold in fall. Michael Dirr is equally smitten: "…one of my favorite trees…if I could use only one tree this would be my first tree…" In more than 30 years in Minnesota, I have rarely seen one even though rated to hardiness Zone 4.

~ 'Pink Chaos' Coleus (Solenostemon 'Pink Chaos) has bright magenta and burgundy foliage highlighted by a thin margin of lime green on the ruffled leaf edges. Wow. But why wait? Start growing now as an indoor garden plant and later move outside.

~ 'Pretty Much Picasso' Supertunia (Petunia 'Pretty Much Picasso') is a new Proven Winners annual. The hot pink petals have purple throats and, like the coleus above, lime green margins. Think of the possibilities in a hanging basket, window box or container garden!

~ 'Strawberries & Cream Hydrangea' (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Strawberries & Cream) is a small, non-hardy (Zone 7) plant to be introduced by Anthony Tesselaar Plants in 2010. This lacecap cultivar has deep rose outer petals with pink centers. Imagine how charming now as an indoor garden plant and, later in the year, as an anchor in an outside container garden.

~ Red-leaf Rose (Rosa glauca or R. rubrifolia) is a shrub rose that was honored by Plant Select for 2010. This is a cool plant! The foliage is a unique bluish-red and the fragrant, pink, single blossoms mature into showy, large, orange hips.

~ 'Twinny Peach' Snapdragon (Antirrhinum F1 'Twinny Peach') is a 2010 All-American Selection. The plant is a compact 12" in height and individual blossoms are somewhat tighter looking with ruffled margins. The flowers are, well, peachy in color.

Petunia 'Pretty Much Picasso' photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

This also appeared in the Askov American, Askov, Minnesota.