Oct 24, 2017

Outstanding Leucanthemum and Salvia By Jasmina Dolce

Each year during the California Spring Trials, Pacific Plug & Liner (PP&L) showcases a comparison trial of one genus. In 2017, they featured two genera: leucanthemum and Salvia nemerosa.

In the September issue of GPN, PP&L’s April Herring-Murray provided an article on this year’s comparison trial and shared some of the top performers. While the trial is showcased during Spring Trials, plants were evaluated before and after the event as well.

Weeks 41 and 43 were targeted as the plant date for the trial to have enough time to bulk before winter conditions settled in. Herring-Murray says being located in Watsonville, California, allows them to get away with this later fall planting date more than northern areas of the country.

All crops were grown outdoors on the ground, in traditional perennial growing fields with overhead irrigation and zero supplemental lights or heat. Watsonville is known for its mild coastal climate, with day temperatures usually in the mid 60s to low 70s and night temperatures in the low to mid 50s.

For leucanthemum, she says their goal was to trial compact varieties and to find varieties that bloom in time for early spring sales. Two favorites were ‘Darling Daisy’ (Green Fuse Botanicals) and ‘Western Star Leo’ (Syngenta Flowers).

‘Darling Daisy’ is day-neutral so it is generally the earliest to flower. First buds were already showing in week 5, and by week 9 first flowers were showing. Although not early blooming, ‘Western Star Leo’ was impressive with a very uniform and dense habit, along with pure white and perfectly mounded flowers.

A major reason PP&L trialed Salvia nemerosa was to see the differences in varieties as it seems every breeder has their own version, says Herring-Murray. They also included some hybrids close to nemerosa, and compared varieties both from cutting and seed.

Best white was ‘Snow Hill’, due to the full habit, high bloom count and uniformity. Best pink was ‘Bordeau Rose’ (Syngenta Flowers), with its impressive dark stems and rich, deep rose flowers on an upright habit. Best blue was a toss-up: ‘Blue Marvel’ (Darwin Perennials) was uniquely different with oversized flowers making it a real standout, and ‘May Night’ was another favorite with its abundant large spikes.

To view the article and read full trial results, click here.

Leucanthemum ‘Darling Daisy’
Green Fuse Botanicals

Leucanthemum ‘Western Star Leo’
Syngenta Flowers

Salvia ‘Snow Hill’

Salvia ‘Bordeau Rose’
Syngenta Flowers

Salvia ‘Blue Marvel’
Darwin Perennials

Salvia ‘May Night’

Are you growing any of the above varieties? How are they performing for you? Do you have any favorite leucanthemum or salvia varieties? Shoot me an email at jdolce@greatamericanpublish.com, and let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

— Jasmina