LOXLEY, AL -- The Southern Living™ Plant Collection has announced exciting new additions to the Athens Select™ annual line for the Spring 2010 season. These varieties excel in the garden, staying vibrant until first frost, according to Todd Carnley, director of the Southern Living Plant Collection.

The new varieties for Spring 2010 include:

• ‘Sophia’ and ‘Vivian’ Vogue® Mandevillas
• ‘Stars & Stripes’ Pentas
• ‘Princess Blush’ and ‘Princess Dark Lavender’ Verbenas

The new Mandevillas, which grow 18 to 24 inches, offer the look of Dipladenia with Mandevilla performance, with Vogue® ‘Sophia’ featuring luminous red blooms while Vogue® ‘Vivian’ showcases prolific pink flowers. A hummingbird paradise, the ‘Stars & Stripes’ Pentas grow 1 to 2 feet and sports prolific scarlet flower clusters with pink centers. Especially floriferous, ‘Princess Blush’ Verbena offers blush pink flowers with a deep pink center while ‘Princess Dark Lavender’ features crowns of rich pale purple blooms. Both verbenas grow 4-6 inches tall and spread well in the landscape. All the new varieties bloom spring to fall.

Evaluated and selected by Dr. Allan Armitage at the University of Georgia-Athens Trial Gardens, Athens Select™ plants are chosen for their heat and humidity tolerance and uniqueness after rigorous testing.

Liners for these varieties are available from licensed Athens Select propagators. For more information about these varieties, please visit the grower directory or visit athensselect.com.

The Southern Living™ Plant Collection, first introduced in Spring 2008 through a partnership between PDSI® and Southern Living® magazine, provides innovative new plants designed to solve specific landscape challenges. The plants in the Collection are selected to perform especially well in Southern gardens.

Founded in 1996 by Greg Smith, PDSI is a leader in horticultural innovation with a special focus on plants with unique performance attributes that can be patented, branded and successfully introduced to the consumer market. PDSI owns and/or licenses more than 50 patented plant properties, including the number one azalea brand in the world, Encore® Azalea. Plant breeders with potential new cultivars shouldcontact PDSI.

Southern Living® is a premier lifestyle and entertaining magazine of the South and the 6th largest monthly consumer magazine in the U.S. (based on readership). It reaches nearly 16 million readers each month and enjoys a circulation of about 2.8 million. Published 12 times a year, Southern Living® celebrates the heart of Southern life.

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