GOLD MEDAL PLANTS

Podium toppers for hot, humid gardens

- MEGHAN SHINN

COORDINATED BY THE Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Gold Medal Plants is an award program that highlights a handful of woody and perennial plants each year. Garden professionals collaborate to pick the winners, with criteria including ease of care, extended interest, wildlife value and availability in the trade. Gold medalists must perform well in Mid-Atlantic states, where the climate runs hot and very humid in summer and moderately cold in winter with extreme dips in temperature possible. Past winners can be found at phsonline.org/for-gardeners/gold-medal-plants.

In 2025, two trees, one shrub and three perennials joined the list of Gold Medal Plants. These award winners share some things in common aside from their appropriateness for the Mid-Atlantic region. All five are native in eastern North America (four cultivars and one straight species), all can cope with wet soil (bouts of inundation for some, consistent wetness for others) and all provide some benefit to wildlife (from pollinators to birds to small mammals). Beebalm (Monarda), so called because the leaves have been used as a salve for stings, is a must for hummingbird gardens.

Warm-hued, tubular blossoms emerge from a large, globular flower head like the spokes of a wheel. Produced en masse atop tall, straight, densely held stems, these unique flowers offer easy access to nectar for the hovering birds.

The downside of beebalms is their susceptibility to powdery mildew, but some cultivars have been selected for their resistance to the disease. One such plant is Monarda ‘Gardenview Scarlet’, a clone that originated at Gardenview Horticultural Park in Strongsville, Ohio, and was introduced by the park’s founder, the late Henry Ross, more than 30 years ago.