Last Day of California Spring Trials – Thursday – Part 2

My previous blog post covered our visit to the Proven Winners group on the last day of our California Spring Trial tour last week. We also visited Benary, Suntory, and The Plug Connection that same day. All are located down in the San Diego area.

Without a doubt, the standout introduction at Benary’s trial was their new Begonia boliviensis Santa Cruz Sunset. The flower form is different from what we’re accustomed to, and has recently become more popular. The vigorous plants fill out hanging baskets and large planters for a stunning display of color. Note that Santa Cruz Sunset is the first boliviensis type Begonia available from seed!

Suntory had a few new additions to their renowned Calibrachoa Million Bells series that are worth noting. Million Bells Tropical Delight made a great presentation with its contrasting red eye and veins against the yellow background. Also new is the very attractive Million Bells Bouquet Amethyst.

  

Visiting The Plug Connection’s trial was a great way to for us to recap the trip because they are a grower who brings in the new introductions from the breeding companies and compares them against commercially available varieties. It affords us an opportunity to see how they truly size up to what is already on the market. Also, each year they take one vegetative genus and grow a complete trial of it. For the seed part of the trial, I was especially interested to see how the new genetically dwarf petunia Duvet and EZRider series performed against the already established Limbo series. Based on pack and pot performance, my observations were that the Limbo’s still appeared to be as dwarf or more compact than either of the two new series. But I’m also waiting to see how all 3 series perform against each other in our garden trials this summer. The Plug Connection grew the compact versions of Calibrachoa for their specialty trial this year. It was an excellent comparison to see the Callie, Noa, Million Bells Bouquet, Lindura, Minifamous, and Calipetite series all grown together. I have to say I was most taken with the Calipetite series. This series is bred by Sakata, and although I hadn’t mentioned it in last week’s blog when we visited Sakata, we did notice it at their trial. What stands out about this series is how truly compact it is. While everyone assumes Calibrachoa is trailing and vigorous, Calipetite appears to be sweet, neat and petite! They are perfect candidates for using on their own in pots or as a component in combo planters for a touch of bright color.

    

The Plug Connection (one of our plug and liner suppliers) also introduced their Mighty ‘Mato grafted tomato program last year. It’s been very well received and their plan is to expand the program to include a few more tomato varieties and also bring in Eggplants and Peppers.

This wraps up our annual California Spring Trial tour. As much as I enjoy this trip to observe each season’s new products and catch up with industry colleagues, it’s always nice to return home to terra firma! For more pictures of our last day of trials, be sure to visit us on Facebook!

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Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 8:04 AM

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!

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Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 4:43 PM

California Spring Trials – Wednesday

On Wednesday, Dick and I spent time at the Ecke Ranch, where we viewed their 2013 introductions and got reacquainted with a number of their excellent annual varieties.

Ecke is known for the Oglevee brand of geraniums that are known worldwide. New this year in their Elegance series of Regal Geraniums is Elegance Burgundy Frost. The dark maroon flowers with white margins are simply stunning. We were also drawn to their new Nordic Tuberous Begonia series. I especially liked Nordic Dawn. Both Nordic Dawn and Fire completely fill out baskets and are loaded with gorgeous pendulous blooms. Also be on the lookout for another new Tuberous Begonia series – Arcada. Seven colors are being introduced, all with large lush full double blooms that will knock your socks off. I didn’t have a favorite because I liked them all!

  

Another new annual that captured my attention at Ecke’s was Bacopa Atlas Lavender - a wonderful complement to last year’s new Atlas White. Both have beautiful extra-large flowers - a real plus with Bacopa. Also keep an eye out for Coleus Stained Glassworks Luminesce. I thought the strappy leaves of this variety just popped with color.

  

For more pictures be sure to visit us on Facebook!

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Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 1:42 PM

California Spring Trials – Tuesday

It was a full flower trial day on Tuesday with visits to Gro Link, Westhoff, Plant Haven, and PanAmerican Seed, all located in the Ventura area.

Gro-Link is a leading breeder of Chrysanthemums, so we spent a fair amount of time reviewing the new introductions as well as learning which series or families are bred for early, mid and late season flowering. Although yellow and red are the 2 top selling ‘mum’ colors, I have to admit my favorite new variety for 2013 from their trial is Magnus Violet, which was really more in the rose-pink color range. A close second is Staviski Yellow.

Westhoff is always fun to visit because of their wonderful selection of annuals. I was most taken with their Verbena Estrella series, especially the new Estrella Voodoo Pink Star, and an as yet unnamed lilac-hued variety. Awesome color! Their new Calibrachoa Celebration Peach Mango also caught my eye with its consistent orange eye on a creamy yellow background.

  

We stopped by Florist Holland, the breeders of the magnificent large outdoor Gerbera Patio series. Nothing new here, but they are well worth considering with their huge, semi-double blooms. Look for names like Bryce Canyon or Everglades, all are named after National Parks, etc. The Flori Line series of Gerbera are also worth considering. They are more of typical Gerbera flower size, but have a vast array of flower types and colors. New this year is a nice pastel, FloriLine Midi Monet.

Our last visit for the day was PanAmerican Seed where we had a thorough tour of their new seed introductions. We also had a chance to look at the new vegetative material from Selecta. Highlights at PanAm included a new dark purple to almost black Petunia Sophistica Blackberry. Its plant habit is more open with a few less flowers than most of the other Sophistica grandifloras, but it’ll look great when it’s interplanted with other petunia colors like the new Sophistica Lime Green. Other PanAmerican highlights include trailing Pansy Cool Wave, Coleus Chocolate Covered Cherry and Petunia Shock Wave Deep Purple.

  

Selecta is well known for the great combinations in their Trixi Liner program, and they’ve added 5 new blends to their lineup. My favorite of the new group is ‘Out of the Blue’ featuring Bidens Namid Yellow, Lobelia Magadi Dark Blue, and Verbena Lascar White. Their new double Osteo 3D Berry White is also not to be missed, combining creamy outer petals with a violet center.

  

For more pictures be sure to visit us on Facebook!

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Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 10:59 AM

California Spring Trials – Monday

Yesterday we visited Sakata Seeds in Salinas and Floranova in Lompoc. At Sakata, I was very pleased to see that they’ve added more varieties to their Petchoa SuperCal® series. The varieties in this nice series are crosses between Calibrachoa and Petunia. If you haven’t tried them growing them yet, you’ll want to in the future, because they exhibit all the best traits of both genera. The SuperCals have the flower power and non-sticky leaves of Calibrachoa, and the better pH adaptablilty and larger flowers of Petunias. New for 2013 are 3 varieties: SuperCal Artist Rose, Blushing Pink and Violet. SuperCal’s make great baskets and containers, but also have proven performance in garden beds.

We also spent time discussing the attributes of the sun-loving New Guinea Impatiens series called SunPatiens®. They’ve been on the market for a few years now and are increasing in sales momentum as growers, landscapers and home gardeners gain experience growing them. SunPatiens come in 3 different types: compact, vigorous and upright, so there is a place for them in just about every setting. We learned that the SunPatiens varieties are not only unique because they thrive in full sun, but also their root system differs from other New Guinea Impatiens. They form more of a columnar root that can grow down to almost 2 feet, helping them to become more firmly established. New in SunPatiens this upcoming year are Compact Electric Orange, Vigorous Blush Pink and an improved Compact White.

Floranova’s trial this year featured their recent foray into home garden vegetables with their Vegetalis patio vegetable product line. Be sure to check out Cayennetta Pepper, a 2012 All-American Selections winning cayenne chili pepper, a nice patio pepper that is loaded with colorful fruit. I was intrigued with the newest addition to their Ikon begonias called Ikon Bronze. The plants are vigorous and produce pendulous pink blossoms that nicely offset the dark bronze foliage. It’ll be a great item for large patio planters and hanging baskets.

Today we’ll be visiting Gro Link, Westhoff, Plant Haven, and PanAmerican Seed, all located in the Ventura area, so stay tuned!

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Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 11:37 AM

California Spring Trials – An Annual Event

I know spring’s arrived when it’s time to head out to California for our annual spring trials trip. I’d noted in last year’s blog that while most gardeners are eagerly sowing, buying or planting flowers or ornamentals for their current spring and summer gardens, this trip really kicks off our company’s entry into the new growing season (2012-2013). It’s the event where we make final decisions on what new products to add to our product line up for both professional greenhouse growers and for our home garden mail order business.

Starting tomorrow, Dick Chamberlin (president of Harris Seeds, and our resident photographer!) and I’ll be trekking down the California coast, starting in Gilroy and ending up in San Diego. We’ll visit 13 different sites that represent about 20-25 different breeders. We’ll be making blog posts along the way about neat and interesting ornamentals that we come across during the course of our trip, so be sure to stay tuned!

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Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 8:05 AM

California Spring Trials – A Peek into the Future

Each spring members of the Harris Seeds staff venture out to California for a week’s worth of flower trials. This event has been in place in some shape or form since the late 1970’s, allowing the breeding companies of ornamentals to showcase their plant material. During the last week in March, Plug & Liner Mgr., Mark Greene and I traveled over 600 miles from Gilroy down to San Diego, visiting 12 different sites that represented about 25 different breeders. Although it’s somewhat intense in scope, it’s always a fun trip because we get a firsthand look at new variety introductions that will show up in garden centers the following year. While most consumers are eagerly sowing, buying or planting flowers or ornamentals for their current spring and summer gardens, this trip really kicks off our entry into the new growing season (2011-2012), and it’s the event where I make final decisions on what new products to add to our product line up for both professional greenhouse growers and for our home garden mail order business. Here are a few highlights below from our trip:

• Dahlia Fireworks: I’m not normally a big fan of seed dahlias, but this mixture can’t help but catch your eye. Available in our home garden catalog and website now. May be available in some garden centers this spring and summer.
  

  

  Dahlia Fireworks

  
• Dianthus Diana Lavender Picotee: Unique color for this type of Dianthus. Outstanding color! Available in our catalog and website July, 2011. Available in garden centers spring 2012.



Dianthus Diana Lavender Picotee

• Flowering Kale Glamour Red: Check out the very dark outer foliage on this new 2011 All-America Selections Winner! That’s very unusual for an ornamental kale and makes the contrast of the rose-red centers even more outstanding. Available on our website now. May be available in some garden centers this spring and summer.




Flowering Kale Glamour Red


• Coleus Under the Sun: This combination is unique because seeds of two varieties in the Versa series (Lime and Crimson Gold) are combined into 1 pellet. This allows you to sow and grow it on as a combo right from the start. The color combination is great, and this particular series of seed coleus tolerates sun as much as it does shade! Available in our catalog and website July, 2011. Available in garden centers spring 2012.



Coleus Under the Sun

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Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 11:24 AM