The Old Farmer's Almanac Names These 12 New Plants As Standouts For 2026

No matter how much we may love our classics and favorites, variety is the spice of life in gardening. So, if you're on the lookout for something new for your garden, then we've got the list for you. The Old Farmer's Almanac has named 12 plants as standouts for 2026, and there's a little something for everyone. 

Growing vegetables and flowers is a science that's always evolving. Horticulturists experiment all the time with crossbreeding varieties to create new cultivars, which are ideally more resilient to changes in the weather and easier to grow. The Almanac team gathered what they consider to be the best new plants for 2026, with an eye for those that seem particularly suited to your average garden. They call plants like the 'Badabing' tomato and the 'Venti Pinkburst' dahlia "practical, resilient, and rewarding" – traits we could all use a little more of. They also picked some plant varieties that can thrive in smaller spaces, ideal for those of us working with smaller yards or balconies and patios. 

The Almanac also gave shout-outs to a couple of dramatic and dark plants, including the dark plum-colored 'Majesty' pole bean and the striking red and black-petaled hydrangea, 'Hokocentennial.' These and other darkly dramatic plants on the list could help you start a striking new goth garden. Dark isn't the only trend this year, though. Bright and colorful flowers make the list, too, with entries like the golden yellow coreopsis 'SunGlobe.' And these are just a few on the list, so let's see if anything stands out for you.

If you prefer a colorful garden, 'Venti Pinkburst' dahlias might be for you. You'll love this flower's robust growth and unique, vibrant pink blooms reminiscent of a sea anemone. This standout dahlia also won the FleuroStar Award, which ranks flowers on how visually stunning they are. It prefers sun but will do okay in partial shade. It thrives in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 8 through 11, but if you live in zones 7 or below, plant your dahlias in a pot and bring them inside during cold snaps. 

The first vegetable on the Almanac's standout 2026 plant list, the 'Badabing! F1' tomato was developed with help from Cornell University. This small, compact, cherry-sized tomato raked in all kinds of awards in 2026, including the Best Vegetable Award from All American Selections, as well as the Reader's Choice Green Thumb Award from the National Garden Bureau. 'Badabing!' is known for its excellent flavor and blight resistance. It also claims to produce tomatoes early without cracking, both boons for home gardens.

Want to add something dark and dramatic with a goth-like flair to the garden? Try the Centennial Ruby hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Hokocentennial'). The blooms of this compact, perennial shrub are ruby-red and black-tinged, developed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Monrovia plant sellers this year. The Almanac wasn't alone in naming this plant a standout. It also won the 2026 Professional's Choice Green Thumb Award for Shrubs from the National Garden Bureau. The hydrangea is hardy in zones 4 to 9, and prefers filtered sunlight or partial shade.

Basil is a rockstar herb in the kitchen, and 'Treviso' brings a bunch of improvements with it. This versatile and fast-growing herb is bushy, making it ideal for containers, and it is adept at fending off downy mildew. 'Treviso' basil also won the All American Selection Best Vegetable Award for its flavor. Judges there liked that it resisted getting bitter, which means an extended harvesting season. This annual needs full sun and will grow best in temperatures between 70 and 75 degrees.

If you want a fast-growing flower that will bloom in its first year, look no further than the coreopsis 'SunGlobe,' a sunny addition to your patio or flower bed. You'll love the bright yellow color of this flower and its sturdy stems that resist flopping over with heavy blooms. Expect this upright flower to grow about 12 to 14 inches tall. This 2026 All American Selections ornamental winner and Almanac standout plant will keep blooming from spring until fall, and it's hardy in zones 4 through 9.

The 'Beehive' pentas grows in a rounded mound that will quickly fill containers or hanging baskets. 'Beehive' also happens to be one of the few spreading types of pentas in the nursery, and it'll be the stunning tropical flower that blooms well into the fall. Just remember that they only act as perennials in zones 10 to 11. For the rest of the regions on the map, they'll be annuals. 'Beehive' pentas come in red, white, pink, and lilac. 

'Spectacular' sedum makes migrating butterflies happy with its late-summer blooms, which are also perfectly landing pad-shaped. This cultivar is more compact than other varieties, and it has sturdier stems than its counterparts. For it to thrive, make sure it has lots of air circulation and well-draining soil. Like many stonecrops, it is hardy in zones 3 to 9 and gets about 14 inches tall, so tuck it into your pollinator garden easily.

It's obvious why the two-toned feathery petals of 'Supra Cherry Picotee' dianthus make it an Almanac standout flower. It's so whimsical and profusely blooming that the All American Selection named it one of the best ornamentals of 2026. This compact, champion bloomer might take a little longer to unfurl its first flower, though — about 105 days after you plant the seeds. If you deadhead, it can continue to bloom from spring through fall. 

Try planting 'Majestic' pole beans for rich, dark plum-like colored vegetables that also happen to be delicious. Their unique purple color makes harvesting these pole beans a breeze. It's no surprise they won an All American Selections 2026 Best Vegetable Award. This bean offers impressive harvests and rugged toughness. This cultivar also stands up to insects and pests.

With its tinge of purple, 'Rubybor' kale is a fairly distinctive leafy, not-so-green vegetable. This interesting cultivar brings unique color to a vegetable bed, but more importantly, it is heat-resistant and won't turn bitter. It tends to be even more tender than traditional types of kale as well. This delicious and pretty vegetable actually won two Gold Awards from All American Selections in 2026: Best Vegetable and Best Ornamental, so it's kind of the best of both worlds. 

If you like fragrant flowers, then try the mock orange 'Pearls of Perfume' (Philadelphus lewisii x coronarius), which smells divine. The clue is right there in its name. Hardy in zones 5 to 8, 'Pearls of Perfume' prefers a sunny spot, but they'll make do with partial shade. This shrub with the pretty white blooms can grow to be five feet tall if you fertilize it every year. 

For those who have always wanted to grow a cherry tree, but have never had room, try the 'Easy as Pie' bush cherry. Ideally, it will produce tart cherries that are particularly great for pies and jams. This bush won't need as much room as a regular cherry tree, growing to be between 3 and 4 feet tall. Hardy in zones 3 to 8, 'Easy as Pie' won't just give you fruit, but it'll also grow pretty white flowers in the spring as well.