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Alan Michael
Regional Horticulture Specialist
Penn State University

May-June, 2002

The Penn State flower trial at Landisville, is part of the overall Variety Trials conducted by Penn State University. This trial is located at the Southeast Research and Extension Center in Landisville, Lancaster County PA, which takes advantage of the hot, humid conditions found in Eastern Pennsylvania. The results are applicable to Eastern PA and urban areas from New York to the Virginia. When deciding to use a new variety, always try them first, maybe at your own home or in a small area in the landscape.

We would like to thank the breeders, suppliers and local growers for their support of the Penn State Variety Trials. Here are a few selected plants that performed well and caught the interest of growers and visitors.

Diascia (Twinspur)

Diacsia is an up and coming garden plant, which grows to a height of 12 inches with a low, somewhat decumbent or weeping habit. It’s covered all summer with small pink, salmon, or rose flowers. These colorful plants are outstanding for baskets, large mixed containers, or in the front of garden beds. The best varieties are rain- and disease-tolerant. Diascia tend to go out of bloom in the hottest three weeks of the summer, fortunately there is a quick re-bloom when temperatures drop in late August and they continue to flower until frost.

The best new Diascia is a Proven Winners entry named ‘Little Charmer.’ It was the only plant in the trial that received an “outstanding” rating from mid-June through September. Two other Proven Winners varieties, ‘Coral Bells,’ and ‘Red Ace’ also are recommended. From the Flower Fields entries, we like ‘Sunchimes Trailing Rose,’ ‘Sunchimes Peach’ and ‘Sunchimes Trailing Red.’ Like many of the vigorous vegetatively propagated plants, they benefit from the addition of chelated iron and extra fertilizer in mid-season to keep foliage healthy and maintain flowering.

Nemesia

Nemesia are low growing flowering plants that originate in South Africa and are quite cold-tolerant. These plants are just now getting the attention of greenhouse growers and may have a place in your landscape. Nemesia are one of the few fragrant annual flowers that also work as bedding plants. They grow about one foot tall have an upright, spreading habit and bloom profusely from late May through early August. Their white, blue, or pink flowers rebound quickly after it cools down. We especially like the new ‘Aromatic Rose Pink’ and ‘Lilac Sachet,’ which compliment the older Proven Winners varieties ‘Blue Bird’ and white ‘Compact Innocence.’

Trailing Petunias

Some folks have said we don’t need any more vegetative petunias because the Wave varieties are so spectacular. Certainly the Waves are excellent petunias, but if landscapers are looking for unique flower colors, shapes, and plant habits, then one needs to investigate the new vegetative petunias. We now have compact double petunias that are worth trying, stunning whites with outstanding flower power, and the smaller flowering Dreams and Minis that produce a multitude of attractive flowers on compact plants.

Ball FloraPlant has introduced a number of very good petunias. We rated the flowering power of ‘Suncatcher White’ and  ‘Suncatcher Lavender’ as excellent. Double flowering varieties, ‘Double Wave White’ and ‘Double Wave Rose’ have attractive flowers. Under the Proven Winners label try ‘Supertunia Mini-Blue’ or ‘Supertunia Mini-Blue Veined’ and from Dummen Company try ‘Surprise Lavender’ and ‘Surprise White.’

Selecta Klemm, a German Company, has a group of trailing petunias that any landscaper would be please to sell including: ‘Famous Electric Purple,’ ‘Famous Lavender,’ and ‘Famous Lilac Vein.’  Flower Fields varieties that rated well in our trials are ‘Petitunia Bright Dream,’ ‘Cascadias Yellow Eye’ and the pink double petunia ‘Marco Polo Odyssey,’ which continues to be one of the best doubles in the trial.

Argyranthemum

These summer blooming chrysanthemums are often called Marguerite or Cobby Daisies. We like the newly introduced light yellow ‘Courtyard Daisy’ from Proven Winners. It is free flowering, has a low spreading compact habit with silvery green foliage and it compliments the butter-yellow ‘Butterfly,’ which is still the best being grown today. Flower Fields has ‘Comet Pink’ and Danziger’s has a white daisy named ‘Neptune’ that do well in our trials.

Geraniums

Zonal geraniums still have a place in the landscape as they produce attractive flowers all summer in colors that are difficult to find in any other bedding species. Geraniums tolerate drought and heat, but some maintenance is required to remove dead flowers. This year we liked the performance of the Ball FloraPlant’s new introductions ‘Designer Rose’ and ‘Showcase Picotee Salmon.’ Fischer’s ‘Rocky Mountain Royal Red’ and ‘Rocky Mountain Light Salmon’ have good vigor and recover quickly after rainy weather. Oglevee’s ‘Patriot Watermelon,’ ‘Patriot Red’ and ‘Peaches’ all have excellent growth and flower power. Goldsmith’s ‘American Bright Red’ and ‘America Dark Red’ zonals performed well, as usual.

The specialty geranium category has renewed gardeners’ interest in geraniums because of their variegated leaves, star-like flowers and high vigor. We like displays of ‘Exoticas Appleblossom,’ ‘Wilheim Langguth,’ ‘Exoticas Happy Orange’ and ‘Vancouver Centennial’.

If you have specific questions or would like a 2001 variety trial summary, contact Alan Michael at 717-921-8802 or email ahm4@psu.edu.

Penn State’s Flower Field Days for 2002 are July 24 (Landisville, PA) and July 25 (University Park, PA). Everyone is welcome. Contact Alan Michael for more information.