Day 5 at the California Spring Trials
Our California Spring Trials journey has come to an end, but we saw a ton of great new introductions and marketing concepts during our final two stops.
Day 5 began at the GroLink stop in Oxnard, which had 15 exhibitors. Plant Haven handed out its second Cocktail Culture booklet, once again showing how gardening can be applied to the art of beverage mixing. Kapiteyn displayed its beautiful calla lilies with different POP packaging, to show its various uses throughout the year. Suntory showcased a few new annuals plus its new line of fragrant and disease-resistant Brindabella roses. Florist added a few new colors to its gerbera assortment and also promoted various messages that our industry can use to inspire consumers.
Our final stop of the day was back in Santa Paula, where we got to check out new varieties from Green Fuse Botanicals and Floranova. Green Fuse continues to expand its line of First Light perennials, which are all daylength neutral and require no vernalization, allowing growers to produce perennials on an annualized schedule. Floranova made some improvements to existing lines and introduced new vinca and ivy geranium collections. We also got to see some new vegetable varieties from Vegetalis, which focus on dwarf plants that can be used in smaller gardens.
There was a lot to take in today, but here are some highlights:
Cyclamen ‘Mammoth Red’
Schoneveld Breeding
The Mammoth series has been around for a while and showcases extremely large plants with a ton of blooms. Red is a new addition this year and is the first true red in this size.
Salvia ‘Vibe Ignition Purple’
Plant Haven
New to the Vibe series is Ignition Purple, which is a really vivid fuchsia color. Vibe salvia is very flexible and easy to ship. And the flowers are edible and have a sweet honey flavor!
Gerbera ‘Garvinea Sweet Sunset’
Florist
Florist added two new bicolor varieties to its Garvinea line. Sweet Sunset is a real knockout with intense yellow centers and almost neon orange flowers. Garvinea is great for pollinators gardens.
Pericallis ‘Senetti Magic Salmon’
Suntory Flowers
Already a huge hit in Europe, this new Senetti selection is brand new to the U.S. It features incredible coloration that goes from light salmon pink to intense deep purple. This variety is about two weeks earlier than standard Senetti.
Ivy Geranium ‘Reach Out Light Purple’
Floranova
Reach Out is a totally new series of ivy geranium. Plants have shorter internodes and won’t fall apart. They make a nice presentation in hanging baskets and containers.
Lavender ‘Madrid Lavish Pink’
Green Fuse Botanicals
The Madrid Lavish series got a ton of attention as it is the first ever multibract lavender. ‘Madrid Lavish Pink’ is now the earliest lavender available to the market. The series also has a Purple variety, and White is in the works.
It’s been a whirlwind of a week, and we still have so much to share with you. I hope you’ve enjoyed following our reports from the road, but tuned. We’ll be sharing even more in our June and July issues of GPN, as well as additional newsletters.
Did you attend the Spring Trials? If so, shoot me an email and tell me about some of your favorites; I’d love to hear from you.
Video Library 
Latest News
see all news »
