Culture

Culture Report: Sorghastrum ‘Golden Sunset’

Sorghastrum ‘Golden Sunset’ is a gorgeous earlyflowering form of Indiangrass originally selected at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. With its full, densely packed golden burnished bronze plumes held high above wide, olive-green blades and its tight, upright... more »

Culture Report: Geum Tempo series

Bearing the common name avens, the geum genus is experiencing a renewed interest from the gardening public. The moniker avens has a muddled origin with roots in Ireland, England and France. Its Medieval Latin name... more »

Culture Report: Santana Interspecific Geraniums

Interspecific breeding equals zonal geranium aesthetics with extra large umbels, dark green foliage, and the heat and drought tolerance of ivy geraniums. In a large class of interspecific breeding in today’s market, Santana are special,... more »

Culture Report: Ornamental kale Crystal series

Ornamental kale has long been a staple for the fall market, and American Takii is leading the way with the recently released Crystal series from seed. The unique glossy leaf enhances the overall appearance of... more »

Culture Report: Hellebore Frostkiss and Winter Angels series

One of the first plants I noticed in the trials area when I started working at Pacific Plug & Liner more than 10 years ago was a hellebore. Being from Texas, I had no clue... more »

Culture Report: Lobelia Hot+ Series

The Hot+ series of lobelias are an improved version of the classic series that redefined lobelia. This exceptionally heavy-branched, mostly mounding series takes all of the best attributes of the original Hot series of lobelias... more »

Vaughn’s View: Leaf Colors and Textures in Coleus

The breeding, trialing and introduction of new seed and vegetative coleus in the past 20 years has been nothing short of remarkable. We now have a multitude of cultivars and series available from a wide... more »

Culture Report: Zydeco Zinnia

Zydeco zinnia, a 2022 intro from Syngenta Flowers, brings impressive flower power to the garden and exceptional profitability to the bench. Zydeco is recognized for its striking combination of extra large Zinnia elegans-type flowers positioned... more »

Vaughn’s View: Define the New Lantana Introductions

The extensive breeding, development, testing, and introduction of new hybrids and cultivars has been rapid and extensive the past 20 years. For example, the varieties that were available in the 1990s included 'Confetti', 'Dallas Red',... more »

Culture Report: Echinacea Sombrero Poco Series

Echinacea continues to be one of the largest classes of perennials by sales and pure recognition. Personally, they are my favorite class, not only because of the sheer diversity in breeding and colors, as well... more »