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.

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  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

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Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 9:33 AM

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!

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Posted by Harris Seeds Ornamentals at 3:37 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