Fun Foliage

When my interest in horticulture was developing a number of years ago, one of the projects I undertook was growing a coleus plant into an herbaceous ‘tree’. At that time, coleus was often used as a houseplant. The instructions were to take a single plant, pinch the young leaves off the top part of the plant and strip the leaves from the bottom part of the plant. Over time the base of the plant developed a slight woody stem and the upper part became the crown of the ‘tree’. It was great fun!

Of course now you see coleus used most often in gardens, landscapes and containers. It’s one of the few shade annuals around which provide a solution to many shady garden situations. More recently we’ve come to enjoy a number of new coleus varieties that’ll also tolerate partial to fun sun. That’s a great advancement in the horticultural world!

A new variety this year is a novel concept that’s combined two coleus varieties into a one pellet so that when you sow, the pellet dissolves and the seeds germinate and grow together, creating a lovely combination of color. Coleus Under the Sun is a blend of Versa Crimson Gold and Versa Lime. Fortunately the Versa varieties grow very well in both sun and shade. We grew it in a container that by summer’s end was fully filled out and gorgeous.

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Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 1:01 PM

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