Pack Trials 2004 — Part I - Environmental Horticulture -...
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By Rick Schoellhorn University of Florida So many good plants, so little time. vegetative matters T he 2004 Pack Trials was a great experi- ence this year. A lot of fantastic plant material, some killer new plant materials and some companies that really hit their stride and made some big advances in trials and displays. There was a bit more emphasis put back on comparison trialing which is always good to see. I wasn’t around for the early days of Pack Trials when the main thrust was comparative trialing, but it is great to see some of that mixed in with displays of current releases in their prime. It was not an easy year to put on a good display, as temperatures in California were soaring and plung- ing all spring, making it difficult to time crops for the trials. We also went through trials on the last days of the event so some of the truly early cool season crops were a little past peak. It also seemed that the number of new releases were, in general, a little more con- servative this year, and given the recent political and economical cli- mate, I guess that is to be expected. The number of new crop releases seemed lower, and the number of improvement to existing series seemed a bit higher. SOME STANDOUTS Gaillardia. I was really pleased to see Ernst Benary of America’s new facility, and this year’s display looked better than ever. They also were highlighting a few things that we are focusing on in our trials this year, so it was a really informative stop as well. A couple of highlights from Benary would have to include its Gaillardia x grandiflora release ‘Arizona Sun’. This cultivar was an All America Selection and is noted for earliness of flower and large flowers on a compact plant. This is a seed-produced hybrid (as some of the other crops are we’ll be dis- cussing this year) but has good 20 GPN June 2004 Pack Trials 2004 — Part I Clockwise from top: ‘Raspberry Smoothie’ thunbergia (Ecke); rhodochiton (Benary); ‘Wine Red’ lophospermum (Suntory). companion coverage Pick of the Pack Trials, Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 30 A Pack Trial Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 48 june 04 9/10/04 7:26 AM Page 20
Transcript of Pack Trials 2004 — Part I - Environmental Horticulture -...
By Rick Schoellhorn University of Florida
So many good plants, so little time.
vegetative matters
The 2004 Pack Trialswas a great experi-ence this year. A lotof fantastic plantmaterial, some
killer new plant materials andsome companies that really hittheir stride and made some bigadvances in trials and displays.There was a bit more emphasisput back on comparison trialingwhich is always good to see. Iwasn’t around for the early daysof Pack Trials when the mainthrust was comparative trialing,but it is great to see some of thatmixed in with displays of currentreleases in their prime.
It was not an easy year to put ona good display, as temperatures inCalifornia were soaring and plung-ing all spring, making it difficult totime crops for the trials. We alsowent through trials on the lastdays of the event so some of thetruly early cool season crops werea little past peak. It also seemedthat the number of new releaseswere, in general, a little more con-servative this year, and given therecent political and economical cli-mate, I guess that is to be expected.The number of new crop releasesseemed lower, and the number ofimprovement to existing seriesseemed a bit higher.
SOME STANDOUTSGaillardia. I was really pleased to
see Ernst Benary of America’s newfacility, and this year ’s displaylooked better than ever. They alsowere highlighting a few things that
we are focusing on in our trials thisyear, so it was a really informativestop as well. A couple of highlightsfrom Benary would have to includeits Gaillardia x grandiflora release‘Arizona Sun’. This cultivar was an
All America Selection and is notedfor earliness of flower and largeflowers on a compact plant. This is aseed-produced hybrid (as some ofthe other crops are we’ll be dis-cussing this year) but has good
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Pack Trials 2004— Part I
Clockwise from top: ‘Raspberry Smoothie’ thunbergia (Ecke); rhodochiton (Benary); ‘Wine Red’ lophospermum (Suntory).
companion coveragePick of the Pack Trials, Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 30A Pack Trial Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 48
june 04 9/10/04 7:26 AM Page 20
uniformity and vigor. We have about32 cultivars and ecotypes of gaillar-dia in the trials this year, andArizona Sun was everything Benarysaid it would be. Other gaillardia inthe trials this year included BallFloraPlant’s Torch series, which is adouble, and you’ll definitely want tocheck out ‘Fanfare’ (licensed to PlantHaven), which is also a strong com-pact grower as well with uniqueflower structure. One of the moreunique color mixtures is YoderBrother’s ‘Summer’s Kiss’, whichcombines yellow petals with a blushof salmon pink and a softer lessorange/bronze coloring; I really likethis cultivar for its unique shades.All gaillardia need high light, gooddrainage and a bit less fertilizer thanmost bedding plants and perennials,so if you are growing gaillardia golight on fertilizer and water, andavoid overcrowding on the bench.
Rhodochiton. Another cool crop(both in season and uniqueness) thatwas on display at Benary wasRhodochiton atrosanguineum (purplebell vine). Rhodochiton is a reallynovel annual vine; flower shape issomewhat fuchsia-like, but the calyxis rose-purple and the corolla purple-black. It has a bit of a sinister feelingto it, but for retailers it is bound todraw a lot of attention in baskets forspring. The plant is a bit stringy ingrowth habit and does best withsupport, so produce it in basketswith hangers attached so it can runup and over the hook and spill backdown in strands of purple bells. Cooltemperatures and bright light arebest for growth and flowering, soavoid hot greenhouses, which causesstretching and reduced flowering.Rhodochiton is available from otherseed suppliers as well; it has beendrifting around the rare seed suppli-ers for quite a few years, but I hope itis making it into mainstream pro-duction. I also saw this plant at HemGenetics in Holland during the 2004European Pack Trials.
Lophospermum. While we’reon the subject of cool season andunique vines I was really happyto see Suntory has improved andwill be releasing Lophospermumerubescens ‘Wine Red’. Some ofyou may know this plant asAsarina erubescens, and it doeslook like a snapdragon vine, but ➧
vegetative matters
Top to bottom: ‘White’ thunbergia (Jaldety); ‘Summer’s Kiss’ gaillardia (Yoder); ‘ArizonaSun’ gaillardia (Benary).
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on steroids. Leaf size and flowersare 2-3 times more vigorous, andit has a lot more heat tolerance.The original form of this plant is apale pink, but Wine Red is a deepluxuriant burgundy, and withsupport, it can easily grow to be a
tower of 6 feet with masses of 3-inch flowers interspersed in thepale green foliage. I have had theoriginal pink type return as aperennial for three years in mygarden in Florida, so this plant istough! In the South it will flower
best in the cool nights of springand summer, but the bloomingseason should be extended inNorthern production. Both thesevines start out a bit thin when firstplanted and benefit from growingup and being wound about the
hanger a bit until they develop agood density, but once in flower,either one will be a show stopper.
HEAT LOVERSThunbergia. Ok, moving from
cool-season flowering vines to those
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vegetative matters
Left to right: ‘Charles Star’ thunbergia (Jaldety); ‘Apricot Smoothie’ thumbergia (Ecke); ‘Orange’ thunbergia (Jaldety); ‘ Lemon Star’ thunbergia (Jaldety).
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that can take the heat. Ecke Ranchhad something I had never seenbefore its release for next year — alavender-pink thunbergia. Most ofthe Thunbergia alata hybrids areeither orange or yellow tones, butthis plant (‘Raspberry Smoothie’)was a clear lavender-pink tone, real-ly distinct! I’m looking forward toseeing it perform in the South nextyear. The lavender form was onlyone of the new releases, and the sec-
ond was ‘Apricot Smoothie’ a dis-tinctive orange with burgundyshading towards the throat, both ofthese new types are definitely a stepaway from the old fashioned blackeyed Susan vine.
Other vegetative thunbergia onthe market include Ball FloraPlant’syellow and orange releases fromlast year, which were outstandingand also a new series of promisingcolors from Jaldety Nursery, one ofthe Israel-based Agrexco compa-nies: ‘Orange Beauty’, ‘Orange’,‘Charles Star ’ (yellow), ‘LemonStar’ (vivid yellow) and ‘White’.
I have always loved this group ofplants for its tough garden habitand long flower season. There aretropical forms as well that are fan-tastic for the South but problematicfor the Northern grower, the best ofthat group of thunbergia is T. battis-combei, which has royal blue flowerswith a yellow throat, and it is atough perennial at least throughUSDA Zone 8. These plants are heattolerant, tolerate full sun and warm
temperatures and grow like weeds,so avoid too much water and fertil-izer as they will easily overgrowmost containers in production. It isnearly impossible to hold them backwith plant growth regulators, soschedule carefully and sell thembefore they take you over.
Always seems at Pack Trials timethat I run out of space before I geteven half way through the newplants, but next month’s article willgo over a few more and hopefully atleast give you a primer on what tolook for in 2005. Man, do we have agreat industry or what?
Rick Schoellhorn is extension spe-cialist at the University of Florida,Gainesville, Fla. He can be reachedby phone at (352) 392-1831 x364 or E-mail at [email protected].
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vegetative matters
‘Orange Beauty’ (Jaldety)
For more information on the varietiesdiscussed in this article, direct yourinquiries to the following companies.
Ball FloraPlant(630) 231-3600www.ballfloraplant.com
Jaldety Nursery (Agrexco Ltd.)+972-8-9437163
Ernst Benary of America(815) 895-6705www.benary.com
PanAmerican Seed(630) 231-1400www.panamseed.com
PlantHaven(805) 569-0169www.planthaven.com
Jackson & Perkins — Suntory Corp.(541) 864-2660www.surfinia.com
Paul Ecke Ranch (The Flower Fields)(760) 753-1134www.ecke.com
LearnMoreFor more informationrelated to this article, go to www.gpnmag.com/lm.cfm/gp060401
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