Annual report

For a look at all the plants listed in this report, check out the July digital edition of Garden Center.

The California Pack Trials delivered the usual collection of new and exciting annuals during the 2009 event. Here are some of the highlights of the color on display this year.

Bacopa
1. Cohen Propagation Nurseries displayed its new JB Party series at Pacific Plug & Liner. This nine-color series is bred in Israeli and is exclusive to Cohen. Plants are more heat-tolerant than other bacopas and are easy and fast to produce.
[Image: Bacopa JB Party Dark Coral]
2. Dummen’s new Bahia Bacopa series has four varieties (White Night, Blanca, White and Lavender Blue). White Night has darker green foliage. White is the least vigorous of the three whites. Plants were bred for early flowering, good branching and large flower size.
[Image: Bacopa Bahia Lavender Blue]

Callas and more
3. Golden State Bulb Growers offers its Caribbean Jewels scilla and AmeriHybrid and Scentiment tuberous begonia lines. Caribbean Jewels ‘Sapphire Blue’ scilla is an improvement of the species Scilla peruviana. It has great “flower power,” producing two to three flowers stems.
[Image: Scilla peruviana Caribbean Jewels]

Calibrachoa
4. After people raved about Selecta’s MiniFamous MiniDouble Yellow calibrachoa at last year’s trials, you knew there were more varieties to come. Magenta is the newest addition with its mounding habit, and it flowers very early and is covered with small double flowers.
Selecta also added MiniFamous Double Orange, Double Lemon and Double Amethyst. These have a semi-trailing habit, good branching medium vigor and early flowering.
[Image: Calibrachoa MiniFamous Double Amethyst]
5. Danziger’s Noa series expands to 21 colors with the addition of six new varieties. The series produces floriferous plants that flower under short days starting in early spring to late autumn. These well-branched plants have a compact trailing habit that is suitable for multiple uses in a variety of container sizes.
[Image: Calibrachoa Noa Peach]

Foliage favorites
6. If you’re looking to add a little flavor to your coleus collection, consider PanAmerican Seed’s upright-growing ‘Chocolate Splash’. This Made for the Shade selection produces mid-sized bright green leaves splashed with a chocolate brown pattern that varies with age and light level exposure.
[Image: Coleus Chocolate Splash]
7. PanAmerican’s new Versa Collection contains six colors and a mix. This sun-tolerant series produces well-branched, vigorous plants that exhibit multi-patterned foliage. In warmer, high light regions of the country like Florida and Texas, plants do better in planting areas that receive morning sun and afternoon shade.
[Image: Coleus Versa Collection]
8. BallFlora Plant introduced two Crassula varieties that can be used as either indoor or outdoor plants. Crassula corymbulosa ‘Shark’s Tooth’ produces triangular-shaped, overlapping leaves medium green leaves that redden in the sun.
[Image: Crassula corymbulosa Shark’s Tooth]
9. Proven Winners added to its Graceful Grasses series with Cyperus papyrus Baby Tut. Baby Tut had previously been a Proven Selections plant. This upright plant reaches up to 4 feet tall and wide tolerating normal to wet conditions, including use in water gardens.
[Image: Cyperus involucratus Baby Tut]
10. Proven Winners’ new Illusion ipomoea series is from North Carolina University breeding, which developed the Sweet Caroline series. Emerald Lace has deeply dissected, emerald green leaves. Midnight Lace has deeply dissected, dark purple leaves with magenta venation.
[Image: Ipomea Illusion series]

Cyclamen for containers, landscapes
11. Schoneveld’s new Picasso series is the silver-leafed series matching its green-leafed Mini Winter series. Plants in these two series were developed for late-season production. Mini Winter has been shown to do well in the company’s outdoor trials so it will be interesting to see if Picasso also has a landscape application.
[Image: Cyclamen Picasso series]

Euphorbia
12. Ball FloraPlant’s new Eurphorbia hypericifolia Breathless series starts with Blush and White. Blush is the more durable of the two, being able to tolerate a wider variety of conditions. Blush has unique dark green leaves with red tones and produces small white bracts with a pink blush. White is a stocky, multi branching plant that produces small white bracts all season.
[Image: Euphorbia hypericifolia Breathless Blush]

Heat-, drought-tolerant plants
13. One of the new crops from GroLink is Bulbine frutescens ‘Yellow.’ In the aloe family, plants are native to South Africa and have succulent leaves. It can be used for medicinal purposes.
[Image: Bulbine frutescens Yellow]
14. Plug Connection introduced its new Mosaic Succulents program of 60 different varieties. Many are ideal for drier, warmer climates, but they have great potential as unique indoor potted plants.
[Image: Mosaic Succulents]
15. Goldsmith’s Big Kiss gazania series begins with just two varieties (White Flame and Yellow Flame) and a mix, but the flower size and attention-getting colors should be enough to stop consumers in their tracks. The large, bright 4½-inch flowers are supported on strong stems.
[Image: Gazania Big Kiss White Flame]
16. Ecke’s new Puebla Salvia greggi series is a member of its Painted Dunes Collection. Bred by Gamia Plant Breeding in Spain, the four varieties (Light Orange, Cherry, Rose and White) do best in full sun and a well-drained soil. These plants tolerate high stress locations and flower from spring to fall.
[Image: Salvia Puebla series]
17. GGG International’s Vienco Cuphea llavea series has seven vibrant colors, including three bicolors. Plants thrive in warm temperatures grown in containers or landscape beds.
[Image: Cuphea Vienco series]
18. A new PanAmerican Hot Summer Survivor is the Zahara zinnia series, which adds Fire and the All-America Selections and Fleuroselect award-winning Starlight Rose. Fire produces bright orange-red flowers whose color intensifies outdoors. Starlight Rose’s white flowers have rose stripes, with the best color occurring under high light, sufficient fertilization and cool night temperatures.
[Image: Zinnia Starlight Rose]
19. Proven Winners’ new Lobularia hybrid Snow Princess is said to be both heat- and cold-tolerant. This vigorous grower produces masses of white, fragrant flowers on plants that reach 4-6 inches tall and up to 24 inches wide. Its trailing habit allows it to be used in hanging baskets and as a filler in combinations.
[Image: Lobularia Snow Princess]

Geraniums
20. Geranium World was a major display at Fides, showing the various series of zonal and ivy series that it now offers. The company continues to expand its geranium offerings with the introduction of its Master Idols series, which contains five colors. Plants branch well, filling out baskets and patio pots, and covering large areas in the landscape.
[Image: Geranium Master Idols series]
21. Grandiosa is Dummen’s new geranium interspecific cross among three pelargonium species. Although the flowers look like a regal geranium, the plants root like a zonal in four weeks. There are six colors in the series; all are free-branching and don’t require a pinch.
[Image: Geranium Grandiosa Cherry]

Mandevilla
22. Isaacson Flowers’ Super Trouper Double Pink mandevilla was bred by German breeder Geranien Endisch. Plants produce large, double pink flowers on twining evergreen plants. Plants, which are best finished in containers larger than 6-inch, flower spring through fall.
[Image: Mandevilla Super Trouper Double Pink]

New Guinea impatiens
23. Sunpatiens, bred by Sakata and available from the Ecke Ranch, become an open market item in September (week 40). The plants, which had been exclusive to Home Depot, are available in three different series: five vigorous varieties, seven compact varieties and two spreading varieties. Compact Magenta, Compact Deep Rose and Spreading White Variegated Leaf are new introductions. Plants thrive in full sun and have excellent garden performance.
[Image: New Guinea impatiens Sunpatiens]

Osteospermum
24. Voltage Yellow from Ball FloraPlant is a stand-alone interspecific hybrid that has a more mounding habit with very flexible stems, making it easier to ship. Its multi-branching, low-spreading habit makes it a no-pinch, low growth regulator item.
[Image: Osteospermum Voltage Yellow]

Pansy, violas
25. Mammoth is a good name for Goldsmith Seeds’ new extra-large flowering pansy series. Bred in by Todd Perkins, plants are stretch-resistant under warm temperatures. These strong branching plants quickly fill in the pots, producing a beefy habit on top of which sit the large flat flowers. John Henry has created a variety of POP material for this new series.
[Image: Pansy Mammoth series]
26. Inspire is Benary’s new 24 color series, which contains clear and blotched faces, that produce medium-size flowers. It draws on the best of the company’s FamaX series along with new genetics to create a series that can handle extreme weather conditions including spring heat and winter cold.
[Image: Panys Inspire Purple & Orange]

Petunia
27. Soleil Purple is a drought-tolerant petunia from Tesselaar, which is available from Selecta First Class. It just might be a landscapers’ dream plant, and consumers should like it too. This spreading petunia actually puts out more flowers when it is water-stressed.
[Image: Petunia Soleil Purple]
28. The Novela series from Oro Farms includes both double flower (Susanna) and single flower (six varieties). The plants are from the breeding program of David and Priscilla Kerley. The two British breeders focus on species that can be used in seasonal displays in patio containers, hanging baskets, window boxes and other containers.
[Image: Petunia Novela Susanna]
29. PanAmerican’s Sophistica Collection starts out with three vigorous varieties that produce large flowers in unique shades. The three are matched for flower timing. Lime/Rose Bicolor is the most unusual flower color of the three. Its color changes depending on the heat and light levels and the age of the flowers.
[Image: Petunia Sophistica Collection Lime-Rose Bicolor]
30. Pretty Much Picasso from Proven Winners produces unique bicolor flowers that have a purple center with a green picotee margin. This full sun plant has a vigorous trailing habit reaching 8-12 inches tall and up to 36 inches wide that makes it well suited for landscapes beds and large containers.
[Petunia Pretty Much Picaso]

David Kuack is editor of Greenhouse Management & Production, a sister publication of Garden Center magazine.

Sources:

Ball FloraPlant, www.ballhort.com.
Benary, www.benary.com
Cohen Propagation Nurseries, www.cohennur.co.il.
Danziger “Dan” Flower Farm, www.danziger.co.il.
Dummen USA, www.dummenusa.com.
Ecke Flower Fields, www.ecke.com.
Fides, www.fidesnorthamerica.com.
GGG International, www.ggg-gruenewald.com.
Golden State Bulb Growers, www.goldenstatebulb.com.
Goldsmith Seeds, www.goldsmithseeds.com.
GroLink, www.grolink.com.
Isaacson Flowers, www.isaacson-flowers.com
Oro Farms, www.orofarms.com.
PanAmerican Seed, www.panamseed.com.
Plug Connection; www.plugconnection.com
Proven Winners, www.provenwinners.com.
Sakata Seed America, www.sakata.com.
Schoneveld Twello, www.schoneveld.nl.
Selecta First Class, www.firstclassplants.com.