That’s right! Even MORE New Flower Introductions for 2013!

In my previous 2 posts a few of the many new flower seed and vegetative introductions were highlighted that will be available for the 2013 gardening season. Today highlights even more new flower seed and plug varieties that are available to grow this season. All are available through our seed or plug programs. Clicking on the links below will give you even more detail.

Flower Seeds and Plugs

• Santa Cruz Sunset Begonia – The first B. boliviensis type begonia from seed, Santa Cruz Sunset has already won gardening awards this spring and summer. It’s an excellent item for hanging baskets and containers. Can be grown in full sun.

  

  Santa Cruz Sunset Begonia

• Sophistica Blackberry and Sophistica Lime Petunias – Both of these new Sophistica varieties held up well in our hot summer. I was pleased to see that Blackberry did not fade out at all, but rather became richer and deeper in color as summer progressed. Sophistica Lime held its lively yellow lime color all summer long.

• 

  Sophistica Blackberry and
  Sophistica Lime Petunias

• Picobella Cascade Petunia – This brand new series demonstrated very nice performance this summer. I would place it in the same class as the Shock Wave series. Both have tighter internodes resulting in a bushier spreading habit and smaller blooms than typical spreading seed petunias.

  

  Picobella Cascade Petunia

• Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea – This brand new AAS winner for 2013 is already the talk of the market. It possesses an excellent color range for Echinacea Mix from seed.

  

  Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea

0 comments

Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 9:33 AM

More Enticing New Flower Introductions for 2013

In my last post a few of the many new flower seed introductions were highlighted that will be available for the 2013 gardening season. This post spotlights a sampling of the many new vegetative introductions that are available to grow this season. All are available through our plug & liner program. Clicking here will give you even more detail of the varieties below.

Vegetative Liners

• Calipetite Calibrachoas – Wow, did these turn our heads in trials this spring! Calipetite offers neat bursts of color in pots, containers, and window boxes.    

  

  Calipetite Calibrachoas

  
 
• SunPatiens® Compact Electric Orange New Guinea Impatiens – This new, high-impact color lights up SunPatiens’ 2013 line. You’ll be hearing more from me about the entire SunPatiens series during the course of the season!

  

  SunPatiens® Compact Electric Orange New Guinea Impatiens

  
• Calliope® Hot Pink Geraniums – The award-winning interspecific Calliope series welcomes three new colors, including bold Hot Pink. Superior branching fills containers quickly for a premium finish. 



Calliope® Hot Pink Geraniums


• Colorblaze® Keystone Kopper Coleuses – This new Proven Winners® sun coleus will catch your eye with its rich, deep copper foliage. It makes a great landscape coleus. Also be sure to check out its new companion Colorblaze Marooned!

  

  Colorblaze® Keystone Kopper Coleuses

  
• Petunia Ray Sunflower – It’s unique alright. Check out the dark maroon and yellow starred pattern of this conversation-starter!

  

  Petunia Ray Sunflower

  
• SuperCal® Artist Rose Petchoas – The SuperCal’s are gaining in recognition, and deservedly so. New Artist Rose provides a nice color addition to this fantastic series. You’ll be hearing more from me about the entire SuperCal series during the course of the season!

  

  SuperCal® Artist Rose Petchoas

  
• Lanai® Candy Cane Verbenas – I’ve really enjoyed the color pattern of this addition to the Lanai series. It’s performed beautifully all summer long in a hanging basket at home and put a twinkle in my eye.

  

  Lanai® Candy Cane Verbenas

  
• Pardon My Purple Monardas – This new Proven Winners® Monarda caught my attention with its nice short plant stature. It can be grown for the fronts of perennial gardens and used in mixed containers.

If you’re a home gardener, be sure to bookmark this page so you can ask for the varieties by name next spring at your local garden center!

0 comments

Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 5:12 PM

Exciting New Flower Introductions for 2013

After a full spring and summer of viewing and trialing new flower varieties, it’s exciting to bring you some highlights as our commercial grower customers start preparing for the 2013 spring selling season. Clicking on the links below will give you even more detail!

Flower Seeds and Plugs

• Serenita Angelonia – Bred to be shorter than the Serena’s, the series will be particularly useful in the South. Serenita Raspberry a unique color with a great habit and long lasting flower power.

  

  Serenita Angelonia

  
• Chocolate Covered Cherry Coleuses – I really like the color combination of this new sun coleus from seed, and was pleased to see that the color didn’t fade during our unusually hot and dry summer in our container trials. I recommend growing and selling it in large containers on its own, and not mixed with other annuals. 

  

  Chocolate Covered Cherry Coleuses

  
• Spring Matrix Pansies – This new pansy series was bred to flower up to 2 weeks earlier than Matrix. It will be a nice addition for the spring market primarily in the northeast and mid-west where the pansy selling season is short and sweet.
   
• Shock Wave Deep Purple Petunias – This is a great addition to the Shock Wave series, with a fantastic deep purple flower color. Use this better performing variety to replace the discontinued Shock Wave Purple. (Note: this variety is also available in Harris Seeds home garden packets.) 

  

  Shock Wave Deep Purple Petunias

  
• Happy Trails Portulacas – This is a nice new trailing Portulaca. I saw little difference in habit or performance outdoors compared to Sundial, but they are earlier in packs and pots for retail. Happy Trails also has a deep red color which you’ll not find in Sundial.

  

  Happy Trails Portulacas

  
• Cora Red Vincas – This is long awaited new color for the Cora Series vincas. It really was outstanding in the outdoor trials I visited this summer, with bright snappy color on a nice uniform plant habit. 

  

  Cora Red Vincas

  

If you’re a home gardener, you may want to bookmark any flower varieties in this list that interests you so you can ask for the varieties by name next spring at your local garden center. Stay tuned for my next blog post that will highlight some intriguing new 2013 vegetative annuals!

0 comments

Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 3:37 PM

All-America Selections Trials

A summer review

In early August I attended the All-America Selections Summer Summit in Michigan. This summer meeting rotates around the country so that our AAS judges and industry members have an opportunity to view AAS trials in different climatic areas. This was the first year in Michigan, and it was a wonderful event! In a two day period we visited Michigan State University in E. Lansing, C. Raker & Sons in Litchfield, Elzinga Greenhouse in Kalamazoo, Mast Young Plants in Grand Rapids, and Frederick Meyering Gardens in Grand Rapids.


The various AAS flower, bedding plant and vegetable trials demonstrated how different organizations grow and trial their plant material. Even though judges only score based on the results of their own trial, looking at other trials helps round out the perspective of how a variety is performing overall.

There are some pretty interesting entries in the AAS flower trial this year. We turn in our summer trial scores pretty soon, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to blog to you about some potential winners in the upcoming months!

0 comments

Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 3:34 PM