March 2025 Production

Coloring conjectures By Heather Machovina

Planning crop production cycles is a crux of greenhouse growing. Factors influencing plant growth, health and flowering fluctuate, and when plants aren’t prime for retail then sales suffer.

“Color sells, we know that,” said Chris Fifo, perennial products representative for Darwin Perennials and Kieft Seed. Unfortunately, growers can relate to the tale of past plant sales lost because scheduling was off and color didn’t coincide with seasonal promotions, he said.

Breeders like Darwin Perennials, PanAmerican Seed and Dümmen Orange have created scheduling tools to make it easy for growers to confidently schedule crops and pinpoint the best plant options for your zone and sales window for better sell-through. 

The First-Year-Flowering Tool from a Darwin Perennials/PanAmerican Seed collaboration, is a perennial scheduling tool that takes the guesswork out of producing flowering perennials on time. Growers can select a week they want a crop to be in-color, then the tool advises on when to stick, sow or transplant for the best outcome. Filters help identify the best perennial varieties based on zone and sales window, and schedules can be saved and exported to share with production teams. 

Garden Party combinations from Dümmen Orange are complimentary mixes of annuals and perennials designed to provide color throughout the year. Varieties are rooted separately then come together for the final product. Now, the pain of prediction is removed with the improved Garden Party Timing Tool, which provides adjustments based on season and growing conditions, and gives growers confidence when creating these combinations for retail. Find the Garden Party Timing Tool at na.dummenorange.com.