research
Top Tough Varieties
Genus
Carex sp.
Colocasia Coprosma
Cyperus papyrus
Cyperus sp.
Euphorbia Euphorbia Ipomoea Ipomoea Ipomoea Ipomoea Ipomoea Lobularia
Ocimum basilicum (basil) Petunia Petunia
Plectranthus Sanvitalia
Solenostemon (coleus)
Solenostemon Solenostemon Solenostemon Solenostemon Zinnia
Cultivar or variety
‘Toffee Twist’
‘Heart of the Jungle” ‘Taupat Gold’ ‘Baby Tut’ ‘King Tut’
‘Breathless White’ ‘Diamond Frost’
‘Bright Ideas Lime’
‘Bright Ideas Palmate Black’ ‘Chillin’ Blackberry Heart’ ‘Chillin’ Blackberry Star’ ‘Illusion Midnight Lace’ ‘Snow Princess’ ‘Aristotle’
‘Supertunia Vista Bubblegum’ ‘Supertunia Vista Silverberry’ ‘Silver Crest’
‘Garden Leader Gold’ ‘Kingswood Torch’ ‘Royal Glissade’ ‘Henna’
‘Red Head’ ‘Trusty Rusty’ ‘Profusion Yellow’
Company
Proven Winners Proven Winners Plug Connection Proven Winners Proven Winners Ball FloraPlant Proven Winners Oro Farms Oro Farms
Proven Winners Proven Winners Proven Winners Proven Winners Floranova
Proven Winners Proven Winners
PanAmerican Seed Grimes Horticulture Proven Winners Proven Winners Ball FloraPlant Ball FloraPlant Ball FloraPlant Sakata Seed
Table 1. Here are the top-performing annuals grown in ground beds in the 2009 Michigan State University Trial Gardens. All plants received at least a 4.7 rating out of 5. Plants were numeri- cally rated based on performance (vigor, size and ornamental impact) every two weeks during the summer from June 25 to Sept. 15
bred in Hawaii, such as ‘Hilo Bay’, have been selected for more of a clumping form that is less inva- sive in tropical parts of the world. ‘Heart of the Jungle’ aggressively formed runners, but these are not a problem in a northern garden. Both Cyperus ‘King Tut’ and
‘Little Tut’ are great for garden tex- ture. The straight species of each of these selections have long been a staple in southern gardens, and it’s great to see these more widely distributed to northern gardeners. ‘King Tut’ was easily 8 feet tall by the end of
the season and there
were no noticeable effects of short periods of drought stress.
Ipomoea ‘Chillin’ Blackberry Heart’
All the ipomoea we grew this
year performed very well. It’s really more a matter of personal taste chosing among the heart-shaped purple, dissected lime, or round, copper leaves! They all grew well in the full sun with limited water. The two Bright Ideas introductions from Oro Farms were quite impres- sive, as was ‘Chillin’ Blackberry Heart’. I’ve been wondering when someone will breed one that we can harvest and eat at the end of the season — added value for the gardener! Speaking of edible, we found
that ‘Aristotle’ basil, a Greek-style, small-leafed form from Floranova,
Coleus ‘Henna’
performed well the entire summer. Home gardeners can repeatedly harvest the small leaves for spicing up their meals, and the plant will
Perhaps a bit more bitter than a Genovese cultivar,
edible selection from Floranova’s Vegetalis program. Coleus is back! But it’s returned
with a name change: Solenostemum scutellarioides. (What ever hap- pened to Coleus blumei? I’m sure someone has a reason for changing the name, but I doubt I’ll ever com- pletely understand.) Regardless of the Latin name, the new cultivars are bold, vigorous and sun tolerant! Many have been selected to with- stand the full elements of heat and humidity. Several cultivars made it to the top of our list this year:
‘Henna’, ‘Trusty Rusty’, ‘Red Head’, ‘ColorBlaze Kingswood Torch’ and ‘ColorBlaze Royal Glissade’
were essentially perfect all season. They were all at least 4 feet tall by September, and with absolutely no detectable faults. Most all the other coleus varieties we trialed fell into the “Best of the Rest” category, including several seed-propagated selections. One other new plant that pro-
vided interesting foliage color and tough character was coprosma ‘Taupat Gold’. Noticeably more vig- orous than some of the other new coprosma cultivars, it was defi - nitely eye catching in the ground and in containers last season.
Coleus ‘Trusty Rusty’
Where’s the Color?
It was hard to fi nd tough plants
with bright splashy color displays from late Juen through the entire season. Many more would have made the grade if we had started rating in mid-July. With the longer season, the best of the best for our trials included euphorbia ‘Diamond
Frost’ and ‘Breathless White’.
‘Diamond Frost’ was released in 2005 and has received any number of accolades since then. This plant really deserves the praise. It can sur- vive heat and drought and requires only low fertility. It epitomizes a tough fl owering plant. ‘Breathless Blush’ is a relative newcomer but seems to possess much of the posi- tive features of ‘Diamond Frost’. It fi lled in fast and provided nonstop color and texture all season long. One somewhat surprising addi-
tion to our best and tough annual list is zinnia ‘Profusion Yellow’. This remarkable little zinnia pro- duced nonstop from beginning
Zinnia ‘Profusion Yellow’ Coprosma ‘Taupat Gold’
grow back quickly. this is a nice
Basil ‘Aristotle’ Coleus combination
(Photo: Ashley Whalon)
www.gpnmag.com
(Photo: Ashley Whalon)
May 2010 GPN 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44