The RHS has announced that Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’ is its Plant of the Year for 2015, with Australian-bred Salvia ‘Love and Wishes’ winning 3rd place.
Viburnum ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’ is a deciduous shrub with an upright form, elegant tiered branching habit, pink buds that open to pure white lacecap style flowers which fade gradually to pink, and golden autumn foliage.
Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’ was bred in Holland and brought to the UK by Burncoose Nursery in Cornwall. It is available in the UK from Thompson and Morgan, Van Meuwen, and Crocus.
Third place winner Salvia ‘Love and Wishes’ was bred by John Fisher in NSW, Australia as a sport of the very successful Salvia ‘Wendy’s Wish’. It is a low-growing salvia with a purple flower held in deeper purple calyx, and dark stems.
Salvia ‘Love and Wishes’ is very long-flowering in a wide variety of climates, and has become a very popular plant throughout Australia, the UK, and the USA.
Second place in the RHS awards went to Streptocarpus ‘Polka Dot Purple’ from Dibleys Nurseries, an indoor plant with unusual speckled and striped purple flowers.