2023 Trial Standouts

Trial gardens provide IGCs with crucial information so that they can decide which plants will perform best for their customers.

We asked several trial gardens to submit varieties in two key categories: best overall performance, annual; and best overall performance, perennial. Here are the picks that you should be stocking to wow your clientele in the spring.

Trial Garden Managers

Chad Miller

Colorado State University

Kristi Challender

Raker-Roberta’s Young Plants

Penny Merritt-Price

Young’s Plant Farm

Sam Schmitz

Ball Horticultural Company

Sandra Begani

University of Georgia

Rachel Gooder

Plantpeddler

Brian Weesies

Mast Young Plants

Laura Robles

Walters Gardens

Doug Cole

D.S. Cole Growers

Best Overall Performance: Annual

Sam Schmitz, Ball

1. Coleus Solar Flare (Ball FloraPlant)

Plants performed in both sun and shade. Its unique leaf shap e with “electrified” edges was attractive and eye-catching. Containers or landscape, the plant filled in nicely with little to no flowering.

2. Impatiens Beacon Lipstick (PanAmerican Seed)

Newest color in the Beacon assortment; continued the series’ high resistance to impatiens downy mildew. Its color is deeper than rose and kept flowering through all conditions in our shade-covered pergola and other landscape beds.

Chad Miller, Colorado State University

3. Dahlia Dahlegria Apricot Tricolor (Syngenta)

This entry holds the distinction of winning the “Best of Show” from both the industry and public evaluations! This plant is stunning on many levels. Flowers are a stunning combination of fruit stand colors, such as apricot yellow, raspberry and magenta. The dark foliage makes a beautiful plant even without the flowers, but when combined, it is truly fascinating. Single petals and a pretty yellow eye are also a favorite of bees. It was bred for mildew resistance.

Doug Cole, D.S. Cole Growers

4. Rudbeckia Sunbeckia series (Hartwig Bull)

We found the Rudbeckia Sunbeckia series to be an outstanding addition to the summer/fall offering. These Sunbeckia are bred by Hartwig Bull of Germany. There are a number of varieties with different flower patterns. These are great to offer at the same time as mums to increase sales in late summer. Once they start to flower, they continue to be covered with color.

Brian Weesies, Mast Young Plants

5. Begonia Solenia Chocolate Orange (Beekenkamp)

The “chocolate” description in its name refers to its dark chocolate brown foliage, and the bright, stunning flowers set against this earned it votes week after week! Solenia begonias are versatile and can be grown in sun or shade; ours that won this designation was grown under a shade cloth. It performed extremely well all season long, with an excellent habit and showstopping color.

Rachel Gooder, Plantpeddler

6. Petunia, Itsy Pink (Syngenta Flowers)

This series is an outstanding performer in all types of conditions. The Midwest was hit with some pretty extreme temperatures and low rainfall, and the Itsy Series looked great through it all. Full color all season, fast to fill the space and easy to care for. All of the colors — white, pink and magenta — performed the same. Outstanding petunia.

Kristi Challender, Raker-Roberta’s Young Plants

7. Vinca Soiree Flamenco Salsa Red (Suntory Flowers)

This is a great addition to the Soiree Flamenco series. The vibrant dark red bicolor flowers and ruffled petals stand on dark green foliage and stunned all summer long. These maintained their mounded plant habit all summer and never stopped flowering.

Sandra Begani, University of Georgia

8. Calibrachoa Bumble Bee ‘Hot Pink’ (Ball FloraPlant)

From the greenhouse through September, Bumble Bee ‘Hot Pink’ has not skipped a beat. It rounds out the basket and concrete planter neatly and evenly. The colors are spectacular and catch the eye with a star-shaped pattern inside each flower.

Penny Merritt-Price, Young’s Plant Farm

9. Coleus Talavera Series (Syngenta Flowers)

Coleus loves heat, and with the new breeding, coleus has become a sun and shade plant that thrives in the southern garden. Talavera is a new series from Syngenta Flowers. The series includes unique colors in a compact habit that is late to flower. The standouts in our garden were Pink Tricolor, Moondust, Burgundy Lime and Sienna.

Best Overall Performance: Perennial

Sam Schmitz, Ball

1. Salvia officinalis Silver Scent (Darwin Perennials)

Silver-green leaves paired well with other plants in beds and mixed containers. Very fragrant culinary sage. Low-maintenance plant. Tolerated many conditions with little attention.

2. Echinacea Double Scoop Deluxe Watermelon (Darwin Perennials)

Much more uniform than other double echinacea. High flower count on very sturdy stems that held up to the various environmental conditions throughout the summer. Attractive color and bold in the landscape.

(Also submitted for Best Overall Performance, Perennial by University of Georgia)

Chad Miller, Colorado State University

3. Bouteloua gracilis ‘Honeycomb’ (Intrinsic Perennials)

This blue grama grass was vigorous and developed into a nice display in its first year. The wispy eyelash-like inflorescences danced on the stem tips and were showy. In the early morning and late afternoon, the plants appeared to glow in the sunlight.

Brian Weesies, Mast Young Plants

4. Lamistrum Silver Frost (Ball FloraPlant)

This tried-and-true variety got a late start, as we were not able to source the cuttings at the preferred time. This hardy perennial works well in ground cover programs, and the attractive silvery foliage also works well in annual combos as the spiller. Pair it with Calliope Medium Red for a bulletproof combo.

Kristi Challender, Raker-Roberta’s Young Plants

5. Polemonium Golden Feathers (Darwin Perennials)

This plant has golden variegated leaves that looked good all summer. Even though this is a part-shade plant, it was outstanding in full sun as well. Golden Feathers would be a great accent plant in the garden or a colorful component in combo pots. The early spring flowers and deer resistance are additional pluses. Golden Feathers stands out all season long.

Sandra Begani, University of Georgia

6. Echinacea Double Scoop ‘Watermelon Deluxe’ (Darwin Perennials)

With so many to choose from, the echinacea competition was fierce this year! Double Scoop ‘Watermelon Deluxe’ is the biggest, brightest and most plentiful in terms of blooms per plant, compared with other doubles and singles in the bed.

(Also submitted for Best Overall Performance, Perennial by Ball)

Laura Robles, Walters Gardens

7. Astilbe ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ (Proven Winners)

This new dark leafed astilbe in the Proven Winners program has gorgeous, deep chocolate burgundy foliage and is the only dark leaf selection on the market with purple flowers. Emerging foliage is yellow with a dark margin and glossy sheen, becoming completely dark as it matures. This astilbe performs best in the north in full sun with adequate moisture but also performs well in shade. Farther south, this plant will do best with more shade.

For more results on how varieties performed in specific categories, such as pollinator friendliness, heat tolerance, drought tolerance and more, read more on greenhousemag.com.

Chris Markham is assistant editor of Greenhouse Management magazine. Contact him at cmarkham@gie.net.