Poinsettia Trial Standouts
In my last newsletter, I discussed the 25th anniversary of the North American Poinsettia Trials. So much has changed in the poinsettia world since 1993 — from hybrids to unique new colors. Poinsettias have certainly evolved over the years, and today I’d like to focus on those novel varieties.
John Dole and Ingram McCall (North Carolina University); Paul Fisher and George Grant (University of Florida) and Mel Sawaya (Focus Greenhouse Management Inc.) trialed and evaluated more than 130 cultivars in this year’s trial program. You can read about 21 of the newest cultivars in February GPN.
If you haven’t gotten a chance to read through the latest issue yet, here are some highlights. I already shared with you some of a the new red varieties. Today, I’m focusing on some of the novel colors and hybrids that are available.
To read the full article, click here.
‘Christmas Beauty Cinnamon’
Selecta
This is the newest novelty addition to the Christmas Beauty series. Visually, it is similar to ‘Christmas Beauty Queen’ but with a softer pink bract. ‘Christmas Beauty Cinnamon’ had low-medium vigor compared to the rest of the series.
‘Christmas Beauty Marble’
Selecta’
This variety was released last year but was new to the trial. It has a dark pink blaze in the bracts, which are edged in very dark cream. Like Cinnamon, Marble showed low-medium vigor. As with the entire series, plants perform and finish well in warmer Southeastern conditions.
‘Bravo White’
Dümmen Orange
Plants are low to medium vigor and perform well in small containers. In warmer conditions, plants finished around 16 inches without PGRs. This strong cultivar, along with ‘Bravo Pink’, had a great V-shape making for easy sleeving.
‘J’Adore Pink’
Dümmen Orange
With a natural vigor midway between the Luv-U series and the Princettias, the J’Adore series works well for 6- to 8-inch containers. Plants present very large, open centers with many cyathia. Foliage is dark green and elongated, and plants have uniform branching.
‘Princettia Pink Queen’
Dümmen Orange
Princettias are much more compact than other hybrids, and cyathia clusters are close in size and style to traditional poinsettias. ‘Princettia Pink Queen’ had the largest growth habit and bract size of the series.
Have you trialed poinsettias this year? Are you a fan of the newer hybrids and novel colors available? Do you plan to add any new selections to your lineup for next season? Shoot me an email and let me know; I’d love to hear from you.
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