2025 New Plants! Our 12 Favorite Veggies and Flowers

1. ‘Purple Magic’ Broccoli 

An AAS winner, this purple broccoli also won the National Garden Bureau People’s Choice Green Thumb Award. It boasts bright purple stems with 4 to 6-inch wide domed main heads and smaller side shoots. All have a purple cast to the dark green buds. ‘Green Magic’ broccoli is one of our favorites, so we look forward to trying its purple cousin. Learn how to grow broccoli.

2. ‘Polly Pak’ Purple Pak Choi 

Slow to bolt in hot weather, this colorful pak choi grows 12 inches tall and reaches a pickable size in only 21 days. Since it has a brighter color when grown in cooler temperatures, it is excellent for early spring and fall crops. Use baby leaves in salad and larger leaves for stir-fry. Another notable feature the National Garden Bureau mentioned is that it can be grown in a container. Learn how to grow pak choi, also called bok choy.

3. ‘Konstance’ Kohlrabi 

With its smooth purple skin and 4 to 5-inch diameter bulbs, this kohlrabi will make a sweet, crunchy addition to your crudité platters. Quick crops for spring and fall, they reach a harvestable size in only 42 days from seed. Very cold hardy, you can start sowing the seeds outside 4 to 6 weeks before your last frost. A 2025 AAS winner. Learn how to grow kohlrabi.

4. ‘WonderStar Red’ Tomato

Are you always on the lookout for a new tomato or two to grow? The ‘WonderStar Red’ tomato is an early beefsteak hybrid that bears nice 8-10 oz. fruits in 60-65 days from transplanting. A determinate that tops out at 3 feet tall, it is great for growing in a container and is resistant to septoria and late blight. Learn how to plant and grow tomatoes.

5. Tonatico Cherry Tomato

Need a prolific red cherry with great flavor and doesn’t crack? Check out the Tonatico tomato. It is an indeterminate plant that grows 5 feet tall and bears long trusses of 2-ounce fruits, up to 200 per plant, so be sure to give it strong support. Tomatoes begin to ripen in about 60 days from transplanting and have an excellent flavor for an early cherry. This is another 2025 winner from AAS. Learn more about growing cherry tomatoes.

6.  ‘Zydeco Fire’ Zinnia

It isn’t a garden if there aren’t any flowers, and I am a sucker for zinnias. They bring color to the garden, draw in the butterflies, and are the perfect cut flowers. ‘Zydeco Fire’ zinnia has 2 ½-3 inch wide, burnt orange blossoms on 18-24 inch tall plants resistant to powdery mildew. If you direct sow outdoors, in only 77 days from seed, they will begin to bloom and continue to flower all season long, right up to frost. The more zinnias you cut, the more flowers it will produce. Another AAS winner.

7. ‘Sea Shells Red’ Cosmos

Ready for a new cosmos? Check out ‘Sea Shells Red’ cosmos, which has tubular-shaped petals that are soft pink on the outside and dark pink in the center. Plants grow to be 3 to 4 feet tall and wide. Another fun one for your cutting garden! See how to grow cosmos.

8. ‘Guardian Angel Berry Sparkler’ Angelonia

Speaking of cut flowers, have you tried Angelonia? This plant is also called “summer snapdragon” for how it stands up to heat rather than flagging as snaps are prone to do in hot weather. They are actually perennials in zones 9 to 11 but grown as annuals everywhere else. 

There are several new varieties from Ball Flora, including purple ‘Guardian Angel Berry Sparkler’ (pictured below) and dark black ‘Angel Flare.’ Grand in the garden, they also can fill the role of a thriller in a mixed container. Look for plants at a garden center near you.

9. ‘Mango Tango’ Marigold

Another AAS winner you might want to experiment with is the ‘Mango Tango’ marigold. It has 3-inch wide, semi-double, yellow and red bicolor blossoms. The bushy compact plants, growing 8 to 10 inches tall and 6 to 8 inches wide, stand up to cold and heat. Flowering in only 42 to 56 days from seed will give you a long season of bloom and is excellent for containers or the front of the border.

10.  ‘Skywriter’ Hosta

The American Hosta Growers Association has named ‘Skywriter’ Hosta of the Year for 2025. Its striking purple stems support the ruffly-edged, blue-green leaves. Plants are 18 inches tall, spread 4 feet across, and are hardy in zones 3 to 8.

11.  ‘Fire Ball Seedless’ Euonymus 

Yes, it’s the only non-invasive burning bush! This new shrub could be a game-changer for those of you who have missed the bright red fall color of those invasive burning bush plants you had to dig up. 

‘Fire Ball Seedless’ euonymus  (Euonymus alata) is the only sterile, non-invasive, seedless burning bush on the market. It will give you the fall color you love without spreading into the wild. Shrubs grow 5 to 6 feet tall and are hardy in zones 4 to 8. This was the National Garden Bureau Professional’s Choice Green Thumb Award winner.

12. ‘Firefly’ Petunia

If that isn’t enough of a horticultural mind-blower, how about a petunia that glows in the dark? A genetically modified plant, bioluminescent ‘Firefly’ petunia uses genes from luminous mushrooms to make the flowers glow in the dark! 

They look like ordinary white petunias by day, but they give off an eerie greenish-yellow glow when night falls. I don’t know if I would plant one in my yard, but I’d love to see it in action!

Explore the latest varieties for your garden! Which plants interest you? Please let me know by commenting below. I hope my favorites inspire you!