Last Day of California Spring Trials – Thursday

Last Thursday was our last day visiting the CA Spring Trials. I apologize for not blogging sooner- after all, it’s been almost a week! We returned on Friday and I’ve been in ‘catch up’ mode since then.

Anyway, Thursday was a great way to wrap up our intensive Spring Trials trip. We visited the Proven Winners group, Benary, Suntory, and The Plug Connection. All are located down in the San Diego area.

Having written a blog post about Proven Winners® just prior to our trip, I was eager to visit them to see what we could look forward to for next season, and I wasn’t disappointed. By far the most impressive 2013 intro is Calibrachoa Superbells Lemon Slice. Developed from a sport off of SB Yellow, this new addition presents a totally unique color pattern of creamy white with a bright yellow broad star. The pattern appeared, and has been confirmed, to be extremely consistent. It looked spectacular in a hanging basket. If you’re a plant junkie, then no doubt you’re familiar with Supertunia Pretty Much Picasso. Now this popular variety has a new sibling named Supertunia Picasso in Pink. Both have the very distinctive lime green margin, but while SPMP offers a lilac-rose center, SPIP’s center is more in the dark pink part of the color wheel. Perhaps more distinctive is the habit of this new intro. Everything about it is a tad tighter and more compact, creating a nice full basket or container.

  

Other highlights in the PW annuals section were a striking Lantana called Luscious Berry Blend, Lobularia (Alyssum) Blushing Princess, - a companion to the popular Snow Princess, and a very eye-catching Coleus Colorblaze Keystone Kopper.

    

PW perennials have gained diversity since Walters Gardens joined the group last year. Perennial highlights that caught my eye were a new Dianthus series – Fruit Punch, and two great looking dwarf Monarda varieties: Pardon My Pink and Pardon My Purple. I was really taken with these because of their 12” bushy, clumpy plant habit that is atypical of Monarda. Note both these varieties will need vernalization.

For more pictures of Proven Winners, be sure to visit us on Facebook. And stay tuned this Friday when I’ll finish up the Spring Trial tour with our visits to Benary, Suntory and The Plug Connection!

Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 4:43 PM