Winners Circle
Selecting which varieties to grow and market to your customers each year can be quite tasking. You may travel to trial sites or even conduct your own in-house trials to evaluate variety performance. With hundreds of new varieties making their debut each year, there’s no way to gain a complete understanding of each new introduction on the market. That’s why we compile this list of award winners from various reputable organizations.
The varieties described on the following pages impressed judges with their color, versatility, weather and disease tolerance, ease of maintenance and more. So if you’re planning for next season, look no further.
ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS
www.all-americanselections.org
1. Canna ‘South Pacific Orange’
American Takii
Sister to 2013 AAS winner ‘South Pacific Scarlet’, this new winner offers an outstanding bloom color in an attractive, vivid orange that contrasts nicely with the bright green foliage. It is compact in habit and well suited for both landscape and container applications. Pollinator gardens will love this long-
blooming plant.
2. Cuphea ‘FloriGlory Diana’
Westhoff
AAS judges loved this plant for its larger flowers, impressive number of flowers and the darker, more intense magenta flowers. It is ideal for borders, mass plantings and containers. Gardeners will enjoy the compact size, long flowering time, and heat and weather tolerance.
3. Gypsophila ‘Gypsy White Improved’
Sakata
This improved gypsophila boasts semi-double blossoms that make the garden sparkle. The flowers are larger in size and produce more flowers per plant, resulting in a fluffy white mound. It is perfect for containers, small spaces and
garden beds.
4. Marigold ‘Super Hero Spry’
Benary
This French marigold features dark maroon lower petals and goldenyellow upper petals perched on top of dark green foliage. The colorpattern is uniform and stable, and no deadheading is required. It has acompact (10 to 12 inches) habit and is early to bloom.
5. Ornamental pepper ‘Onyx Red’
American Takii
The contrast between the black foliage and shiny red fruits on ‘Onyx Red’ is striking and makes a bold statement in the garden. Plants are vigorous, continually growing while retaining their neat, compact habit. It performs well in beds, borders, containers and dramatic mass plantings.
6. Zinnia ‘Queeny Lime Orange’
Hugo Dittmar, available through Floragran
With large dahlia-like blooms on a sturdy, compact plant, ‘Queeny
Lime Orange’ provides cut flower gardeners and growers with a
wonderful hue for today’s floral trends. The unique color evolves from dark coral, peach and orange to a light peach with a dark center as the flowers age. When cut, blooms last about three weeks without preservatives or feed.
FLEUROSELECT
www.fleuroselect.com
1. Osteospermum ‘Enrico’
Florensis
Compared to similar double osteospermums, ‘Enrico’ displays a true abundance of blooms that flower longer throughout the season. It presents beautiful cream-white blooms and is suited for cooler climates where it will look outstanding in containers or in landscape beds.
2. Begonia ‘Fiona Red’
American Takii
Growers will appreciate the high level of uniformity and early flowering on this begonia, enabling easy production. The attractive flower shape and vibrant color encourage impulse sales. It has a long flowering window with radiant semi-double
flowers throughout the season.
3. Calendula ‘Calexis Orange’
Van Hemert & Co.
This dwarf calendula presents a brand new flower shape. Its attractive cactus flowers with rolled petals in a striking orange survive some light frost in winter and early spring. This sturdy, well-branched plant has an excellent shelf life on the bench and can be us ed in pots and borders.
4. Zinnia ‘Queeny Lime Orange’
Floragran
This double award winner combines unique coloration with a long blooming period that will look spectacular in borders. Consumers will enjoy the striking color, outstanding garden performance and cut flower possibilities.
5. Dahlia ‘Dalaya Amba’
Selecta One
With large, semi-double, dark red flowers with a black center, Amba is stunning in borders, pots and containers. This variety branches well and has shorter lower stems. Growers will appreciate its fast production, low PGR requirements
and mildew resistance.
PERENNIAL PLANT ASSOCIATION
www.perennialplant.org
Allium ‘Millenium’
This butterfly magnet is perfect for full-sun gardens where its sleek structure can complement other growth habits. This plant provides interest through multiple seasons with its attractive foliage and large, gorgeous blooms. ‘Millenium’ grows best in full sun and is hardy to Zones 3 or 4 through 9.
AMERICAN HOSTA GROWERS ASSOCIATION
www.hostagrowers.org
Hosta ‘World Cup’
Beilsten/Zilis 2006
Quickly becoming a very hot hosta variety, ‘World Cup’ forms an upright clump of deeply cupped, moderately wavy, deeply corrugated, bright gold foliage. Pale purple flowers appear in late June through early July.