Syngenta Flowers introduces disease-resistant impatiens, vinca

At the beginning of the Syngenta Flowers tour during the 2019 California Spring Trials, Melanie Fernandes, marketing communications lead, pointed to large metallic, freestanding letters that spelled XDR at the front of the greenhouse and asked us what we thought they stood for. (She had to tell us.)

Imara XDR Impatiens walleriana, Michelle Simakis

The acronym translates to “Extreme Disease Resistance,” but XDR is not a new variety – it’s a new program Syngenta introduced this year to showcase plants that, as the name suggests, are bred specifically to withstand common afflictions. Two series comprise what Fernandes says is a holistic approach to how you can grow and market plants, and the goal is to continue adding to the line.

Syngenta Flowers demonstrated the disease resistance of its Imara XDR series and Cora XDR series (pictured) by showing inoculated plants susceptible to disease and the new varieties that are not. Michelle Simakis

Imara XDR is a new Impatiens walleriana that is genetically resistant to Impatiens downy mildew and includes nine colors in its launch year. Cora XDR is a new vinca that is similar to classic Cora Catharanthus roseus but genetically different, as it’s resistant to Phytophthora. Like the Imara and Cora varieties that came before, Syngenta says the XDR varieties are low-maintenance, grower-friendly plants that hold up in shipping, perform on the shelf for retailers and in the garden for consumers.  

Syngenta set up inoculated varieties next to plants from the new XDR series to illustrate their disease resistance.

For more coverage of the 2019 California Spring Trials, click here.