Apr 6, 2017

Spring Trials Day 5 — GroLink and Ball Horticultural Co. By Jasmina Dolce

I can’t believe we have just one more stop on our Spring Trials journey. But I have hundreds of photos and notebooks full of notes that I can’t wait to share with you.

Day 5 began in Oxnard at the GroLink facility. Many of the breeders have a ton of new retail programs they wanted to share, such as Water Savers from Plant Haven (a collection of water-wise plants) and Pure Blooms from Florist Holland (a campaign promoting the benefits of indoor gerbera). There’s no way I can tell you about the many exhibits at GroLink here, so I’ll just have to make you wait until the June and July issues of GPN which will feature extended coverage of the trials.

Next, we spent our afternoon at PanAmerican Seed where all the Ball companies showcased their new introductions. This was a year of lots of firsts — first climbing ipomoea, first certified sterile lantana, first ornamental oregano from seed. The list goes on. But as always, there were tons of new introductions and lots of new colors. I’ll share some of them below, but I’ll share more tomorrow since we only have one short stop today.

Tomorrow we will recap our visit with Green Fuse Botanicals and Floranova (who took a one-year hiatus and is returning to Spring Trials this year). So be on the lookout for one more Spring Trials newsletter.

In the meantime, here are some of my favorites from today.

Viola ‘Magnifi Scent Sunny Jim’
Plant Haven

The new Magnifi Scent series features perennial violas with incredible fragrance. They have an excellent flower count. A popular variety was Sunny Jim because its color has previously been difficult to achieve in the perennial viola category.

Campanula ‘Florentes Ambella’
Schoneveld Breeding

Ambella is a pot type campanula with a round mounding habit and bell-shaped flowers. Two colors are available, and they are hardy to Zone 5.

Calla ‘Captain Solo’
Kapiteyn

Captain callas from Kapiteyn are large flowering and have a higher quantity of flowers per pot. Consumers can enjoy them for six or seven weeks. ‘Captain Solo’ is special because of its intense yellow colors.

Calibrachoa ‘Million Bells Butter Pop’
Suntory Flowers

This new addition to the popular Million Bells line boasts a unique coloration. It has outstanding coverage and flowers early.

Pentas ‘Lucky Star Violet’
PanAmerican Seed

Lucky Star is a brand new series of pentas that boasts incredible uniformity across the series, both in size and timing. It also finishes four to six days earlier than existing series. Six colors are available.

Ipomoea ‘SolarTower Lime’
Ball FloraPlant

SolarTower is the first self-climbing sweet potato vine to be introduced to the market. Two colors are currently available: Lime and Black. It’s recommended as a thriller in mixed combos or climbing up a small bamboo stick.

I’ll share even more of Day 5’s introductions with you tomorrow as well as the new items from Green Fuse Botanicals and Floranova. So be on the lookout for my next e-newsletter.

— Jasmina