Aug 17, 2017

Standouts in Colorful Colorado By Jasmina Dolce

While the end of summer is a bit of a bummer, I do enjoy these last couple weeks leading into fall. I especially love the grand finale of numerous plant trials across the country.

Last week, I shared the top performers from the University of Georgia trial garden. Today, I’d like to head west to “Colorful Colorado” where Welby Gardens hosts its highly regarded flower trial. For more than 25 years, Welby Gardens has been conducting extensive flower trials to evaluate the latest breeding of new plant varieties.

The Welby Gardens open house took place earlier this month, on Aug. 2. There were almost 1,200 plants on display this year! Around 400 people across the industry were in attendance — breeders, growers, retailers, landscapers, sales reps and consumers all had a chance to vote for their favorites.

“We are proud to introduce new annual and perennial varieties every year, keeping us on the forefront of the green industry and in close contact with breeders around the world,” the company says.

There were some very clear winners as the votes were tallied and the Top 10 are listed below:

1) Petunia ‘Crazytunia Frisky Purple’
Westhoff

2) Coleus ‘Stained Glassworks Royalty’
Dümmen Orange

3) Osteospermum ‘Blushing Beauty’
Ball FloraPlant

4) Helianthus ‘Sunfinity’
Syngenta Flowers

5) Dahlia ‘LaBella Medio Fun Purple’
Beekenkamp

6) Petunia ‘Sweetunia Miss Marvel’
Dümmen Orange

7) Verbena bonariensis ‘Finesse ApeX’
Benary

(three-way tie for 8th place)

8) Coleus ‘Main Street La Rambla’
Dümmen Orange

8) Dahlia ‘Hypnotica Lavender’
Dümmen Orange

8) Petunia ‘Crazytunia Ultra Violet’
Westhoff

Are you growing any of the above varieties? Or do you plan to add any of them to your production for next season?

Did you attend the Welby Gardens trials; if so, what were some of your favorites?

Have you attended any summer trials this year? Tell me about them!

Shoot me an email at jdolce@greatamericanpublish.com; I’d love to hear from you.

— Jasmina