Apr 7, 2017

Spring Trials Day 6 — Green Fuse Botanicals and Floranova By Jasmina Dolce

It’s hard to believe Spring Trials has come to an end. The week usually starts off slow but finishes up insanely quick. Now that I’m home in Chicago, I’ll be going through what seems like millions of photos and mountains of catalogs so I can continue to share all the introductions we’ve seen this past week with you in the coming months.

Our final stop along our coastal journey was in Santa Paula where we visited with Green Fuse Botanicals and Floranova. We haven’t seen the folks from Floranova in two years, as they took a break from the Spring Trials last year. They shut down their Lompoc facility and moved their exhibit to Santa Paula this year. So we were able to see this year’s introductions as well as last year’s.

Green Fuse continues to experiment with never-before-seen genetics, and we enjoyed learning about their “First Looks” (varieties that are still in the experimental stage). One of our favorites was the first ever double lavender, Madrid Lavish.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s snapshots, but keep in mind these have been just a small handful of what’s out there. I look forward to sharing much, much more with you in the June and July issues of GPN as well as upcoming e-newsletters.

And remember to check out our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages where we will also continue posting highlights from our trip.

For now here are some of our favorites from Day 6, along with a few introductions from Day 5 at Ball.

Armeria ‘Dreameria Sweet Dreams’
Darwin Perennials

Armeria is new and unique breeding for a typically old-fashioned class. It is heat and drought tolerant and flowers all summer. Its tidy habit is perfect for patios and gardens.

Petunia ‘Headliner Pink Sky’
Selecta

Last year, Night Sky was a solo introduction but now that new varieties have been added to the collection, the series has been named Headliner. ‘Headliner Pink Sky’ has the same starry coloration but on pink blooms.

Fuchsia ‘New Windchimes Pink Lilac’
Green Fuse Botanicals

‘New Windchimes Pink Lilac’ is the first of a new generation of Windchimes fuchsia. It has extra large flowers and is early to flower. More colors are in the pipeline.

Rex begonia ‘Dibs Cherry Mint’
Green Fuse Botanicals

A Green Fuse “First Look,” the Dibs series is not an official introduction just yet but it is definitely an eye catcher worth sharing. Dibs is an extremely fast crop and, as part of the Lifestyle Plants collection, it can be used indoors or out.

Phlox ‘Popstars Purple with Eye’
Floranova

Popstars is a new F1 hybrid phlox featuring single and bicolored star-shaped flowers. It is naturally compact with good garden performance and amazing flower power.

Cosmos ‘Apollo Lovesong Mix’
Floranova

The naturally dwarf Apollo series was introduced last year, but this was our first chance to see it. Plants have good branching and lots of flowers with overlapping petals. Apollo was a recent recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

Now that the California Spring Trials has come to an end, what are some of your favorites? Are there any varieties you look forward to trialing and possibly adding to your production for next season? Shoot me an email, and let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

— Jasmina