This time of the year, I always look forward to the announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year. Last year it was Peach Fuzz and the year before it was Viva Magenta. I’ve always liked to try to join in and pick out flowers, to show that we are part of the team, a Pantone Partner if you will. Drum roll please: For 2025 the Pantone Color of Year is Mocha Mousse.

This Garden Guy doesn’t do mousse. It’s not on my dessert menu and I don’t put it in or on my hair. There aren’t any brown flowers either, other than those that have passed on. Before I could jump, Kate Spirgen, marketing communications specialist with Proven Winners, got me off the proverbial ledge with a press release. That’s what communications gurus do, and as a garden guru I will hopefully get you back in the garden with Mocha Mousse, too.

One of the first plants Kate mentioned was Sweet Caroline Red Hawk ornamental sweet potato. Immediately you realize we are headed down the foliage freeway when talking Pantone’s Mocha Mousse. Sweet Caroline Red Hawk sweet potato could indeed be the Pantone Poster Plant for Moucha Mousse. It is an award-winner with perfect scores and top performer awards, but there are a couple of awards that literally shout "LOOK!" The awards I am referring to are Best of Show Sun and Best of Show Shade in Penn State University trials.

Pantone has done a remarkable job with the various color palettes centered around Mocha Mousse. It is a natural warm and inviting color. You see it and feel it walking in a forest no matter the time of the year, though its presence has been in clear view this fall. A Proven Winners recipe named Cinnamon Toast with ColorBlaze Rediculous coleus, Fireworks grass and of course the Sweet Caroline sweet potato epitomize Pantone’s palette that they titled Relaxed Elegance.

Kate also picked out Dolce Toffee Tart heuchera, which is spot-on. But to show the versatility in heuchera, I nominate Dolce Cherry Truffles, too. My son James created an incredible horse trough using Dolce Cherry Truffles and Dolce Wildberry heuchera, Evergold Carex grass, Queen of Hearts brunnera, Double Play Candy Corn spirea, Lemon Coral sedum and yellow pansies. The result was totally mesmerizing.

Pantone’s color palette suggestions also invite you to incorporate more color. One of my favorite new flowers, Solenia Chocolate Orange begonia, gives you that Mocha Mousse colored foliage but then dazzles with a flashy orange. Those of you who flinch at orange can tone it down with partners like Unplugged So Blue salvia, Supertunia Mini Vista Yellow and Supertunia Persimmon petunias and Superbena Violet Ice verbena.

Kate from Proven Winners and I have one more agreement that must be mentioned and that is Toffee Twist Carex grass. Of course, it is really sedge that we use for fine texture or a grassy element. Throughout the year it gives you different looks, but all are uniquely different and effective in mixed containers or in the ground.

The Garden Guy isn’t the only one carrying the banner for Pantone’s Mocha Mousse. The lady of the house known as Jan My Love Winter has incorporated this welcoming color throughout our home. Here is a shout out to 2025 and Mocha Mousse and the Pantone Color of the Year.

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(Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.)

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Norman Winter receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.)

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