News
A mid-Trials report from California

April 9, 2013 — Brad McMillan, Central, East and Northern Ontario
territory manager with JVK Ltd., is currently touring the California
Spring Trials. He will be posting a few highlights with us over the next
few days as he makes his rounds.

April 9, 2013 — Brad McMillan, Central, East and Northern Ontario territory manager with JVK Ltd., is currently touring the California Spring Trials. He will be posting a few highlights with us over the next few days as he makes his rounds.

A SUPERBELL WITH PUNCH

'Superbells Pomegranate Punch Calibrachoa'

I’ve chosen the new 'Superbells Pomegranate Punch Calibrachoa' as my selection from Proven Winners’ lineup of new varieties on display here in California. There are quite a few great new introductions from Proven Winners for 2014, but ‘Superbells Pomegranate Punch Calibrachoa’ in particular caught my eye, and the eyes of my peers, mainly due to the rich, deep-red colour and dark centre of the blooms.
 A few key points:
• Typical, strong Superbells performance and disease resistance.
• Medium-vigour.
• Mounded habit, medium tightness, not quite as tight as ‘Coralberry Punch Superbells,’ but tighter than ‘Blackberry Punch.’ This is probably the most important thing for growers to know about this new variety.
• Full sun results in better, richer flower colour. I saw examples of ‘Pomegranate Punch’ grown in differing sun exposures, and full sun definitely yielded the best result.
• Available for 2014 through JVK and the Proven Winners’ licensed rooting stations – Dentoom, Nordic and Sobkowich. 

A SUPER PERFORMER

‘Candy Showers Trailing Snapdragons'

Everyone stops to “ooh”and “aah” at the display of ‘Candy Showers Trailing Snapdragons,’ a new Sakata seed variety. All the colours looked great, but the yellow in particular will be a super-duper hit with consumers, who, in general, love all things yellow. This trailing form of Candy Showers looked especially impressive in hanging baskets, swaying in the breeze.
 A few key points:
 • Multi-pellet seed form.
• Recommended to be sown into a 128-cell tray.
• Available in five colours: red, yellow, orange, rose and deep purple.
• Excellent trailing habit.
• Flowers develop from the centre of the plant on really strong, but flexible, stems.
 

MARVEL(OUS) PETUNIA

'Great Marvel Violet'

This Great Marvel series of petunias from Danziger all looked terrific, and I think the 'Great Marvel Violet' stole the show.
 A few key points:
• Dark yellow centre with violet veins.
• Early flowering.
• XL flower size, relative to other petunia.
• Has a nice, semi-trailing habit.
• Grows with medium vigour.
• Best suited to hanging baskets.
• Available for 2014 through JVK.

GLOWING STARDUST

'Glow Blue Stardust Petunia'

Cohen has a winner, in my opinion, in the new 'Glow Blue Stardust Petunia,' as you’ll see from the picture. The flower colour/pattern makes it stand out from a mile away, even on a bench filled with other colours of petunia.
A few key points:
• Light blue flowers with white striping.
• Very dark green foliage.
• Medium flower size.
• Semi trailing habit.
• Available for 2014 as URC through JVK.

COLOURFUL PETTICOAT

‘Rose Petticoat Nonstop Begonia’

Benary Seed has been busily working to complete their new facility outside Gilroy, California. They’ve also developed a couple of great new introductions for 2014, my favourite being the new ‘Rose Petticoat Nonstop Begonia.’ This new bicolour variety has beautiful white blooms with rose pink to reddish edging.
A few key points:
• There’s not much new to say about Nonstops, except the beautiful colours of Rose Petticoat.
• Nice contrast between the white/pink flowers and the green foliage.
• Comparable in size, habit and finish time to other Nonstops.