What’s Blooming at Benary’s Cultivate Booth This Year?

There isn’t a grower that can afford to miss Cultivate, an event that has brought the horticulture industry together for decades. Benary attends every year, and will have more than 30 plants on display.

At booth 1033, growers can expect a mix of proven performers and new introductions from Benary, including Begonias, Pentas, grass varieties, Dichondras, and Rudbeckias.

Dwight Deppen, North American sales and marketing manager for Benary, is particularly excited about the Begonias and the Pentas this year.

Betting on Begonias

“Benary is known for begonias,” he says. “While we don’t have any new colors in the Nonstop® series this year, we are introducing a new Select Mix.”

The Nonstop® Select Mix features seven carefully chosen colors that growers can purchase as a ready-made mix or use as a guide when selecting individual colors. The mix was developed through extensive trials and evaluations to help growers achieve more consistent and successful results.

With the wide range of colors available in the Nonstop® series, determining which varieties work best together has often been a challenge. Benary selected colors that complement one another, flower at the same time, and share similar plant habits, creating a more uniform and cohesive finished product.

“One of the most common questions we receive is which Nonstop® colors perform best together,” he says. “We wanted to take the guesswork out of the process by identifying combinations that match in timing, habit, and overall appearance. The result is a mix that delivers a more consistent and professional-looking crop for growers.”

In addition to the Nonstop® series’ Select Mix, Benary will also have the new rose espresso from its Whopper® series on display. This variety turned heads at CAST this year due to its dark-brown leaves and striking pink flowers.

Curating colors that work together rather than leaving growers to figure it out carries over into Benary’s Pentas lineup, with one noteworthy addition.

The Pentas Trifecta

Benary's new StreetArt™ Pentas series was designed to work beautifully together, but StreetArt™ Blue may be the color that generates the most excitement. Offering a true blue flower color, it fills a gap in the market that growers didn't even know existed.

Cultivate is the perfect stage to showcase the StreetArt™ series, Benary's new generation of Pentas featuring Red, White, Rose, and the highly anticipated Blue. Together, the series offers growers a coordinated color palette that creates striking combinations, including a natural fit for red, white, and blue patriotic programs.

“We are really encouraging growers to take advantage of the red, white, and blue combination for patriotic holidays,” Deppen says. “Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day all create opportunities for eye-catching retail displays, and I think this new blue color will generate a lot of excitement at Cultivate.”

While retailers have long embraced red, white, and blue flower combinations for summer promotions, StreetArt™ Blue offers something truly different. Unlike many vegetative blue Pentas on the market that tend to lean pink or lavender, StreetArt™ Blue delivers a noticeably truer blue color. As a seed-grown variety, it also provides growers with a more economical option compared to vegetative alternatives.

“This variety is much more accessible to growers because of the cost,” Deppen says. “But beyond that, the color itself is what really sets it apart.”

Deppen believes the unique flower color will make StreetArt™ Blue one of the most talked-about introductions of the season.

“The blue Pentas will be a major point of interest because it’s unlike anything else currently available,” he says. “There are other blue Pentas on the market, but this one has a much more distinct and vibrant blue tone.”

The Pentas display doesn’t stop at patriotic combinations. Visitors to the Benary booth will also have the opportunity to see StreetArt™ Rose and the trailing Graffiti® Falls Rose Pentas, showcasing the versatility and expanded color range that continue to make Pentas one of the most exciting categories in the Benary portfolio.

Don’t Forget About Grass

While flowers are typically the headliners of horticulture shows, Benary is unveiling three new grasses at Cultivate.

“We’re introducing three new grasses this year, and we have a whole lot of them in our assortment,” Deppen says. “Grasses are gaining popularity in landscaping for low-maintenance plants, so there’s a demand for them.”

Here’s a brief rundown of each variety:

Bouteloua gracilis Mozzie. This grass is often best suited for landscape grass and larger containers. “It’s unique in that it’s got flower heads that look like little eyebrows,” Deppen adds.

Isolepsis cernua Iggy. Often referred to as just “Iggy,” this small clump grass has tiny flowers on the end of each leaflet.

Pennisetum alopecuroides Foxy. This grass is a rather large green grass that has red-tinted flower heads. “It’s a fine foliage that looks great in the wind,” he adds.

Sometimes grasses can be more difficult for retailers to market than flower varieties. But there is a growing interest in using them for centerpieces in containers—Benary looks to market its different varieties, and forms strategically on habit.

“It would make sense to divide grasses into distinct categories based on their end use,” Deppen explains. “More compact varieties are ideal for smaller containers and can be easily integrated into traditional annual programs for greenhouse growers and retailers. They’re easier to merchandise and fit naturally into existing retail offerings.

“On the other hand, larger grasses are better suited for landscape applications and larger patio containers. Those products may be a better fit for landscapers, shrub growers, and other outdoor-focused markets. That’s how I see the grass category developing—by matching the right products to the right customers and applications.”

Rounding Out the Lineup

Growers and retailers walking the show floor will also be able to view Benary’s Rudbeckias, Lobelias, Dichondras and the Verbena Flair.

“The Verbena Flair is unique in that it’s much more compact than the other varieties that are out there,” he says. “For growers doing landscape perennials, this one would mix in well with outdoor production, as it stays nice and compact. It also blooms its head off all year, so it’s really showy.”

The Verbena bonariensis Flair is also a 2026 Fleuroselect Gold Medal Winner, an award that recognizes breeding breakthroughs in new flowers and plants.

Benary looks forward to speaking with growers and garden centers about its new plant varieties. In fact, Deppen says he enjoys talking to both groups of people, teaching them what’s going on in the world of plants and showing them what Benary has to offer.

The company has put together an elaborate display of Begonias, Pentas, grasses, and other new flower varieties for growers and garden centers to see.

Booth 1033 is worth the detour. Stop by July 11-14 and see what’s new with Benary.