California Spring Trials: New Annuals For Your 2015 Season [Slideshow]
The range of 2015 annual introductions at California Spring Trials is astounding. Breeders placed a large emphasis on compact plants, container components and providing grower solutions. Here are 29 annuals varieties to consider for production in the upcoming season.
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Bacopa ‘Scopia Double Indigo (Danziger)
Double Indigo features decorative, large double flowers and flowers early. These well-branched, compact plants are superb in full sunlight or partial shade, and are ideal for pots, hanging baskets and mixed containers.
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Begonia boliviensis Bossa Nova Series (Floranova)
The first F1 seed series of Begonia boliviensis, Bossa Nova varieties are full-flowering and available in four bright colors — Red, Rose, White and Orange. Brilliant blooms cover the well-branched plants from late spring until frost. Plants look stunning in containers, as part of a combination or as a stand-alone specimen.
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Begonia Jurassic Rex Series (Ball Ingenuity)
This new Rex series offers bold colors and patterns for attractive plantings in deep shade. Uniform and fast to finish, they’ll offer great texture and appeal.
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Begonia ‘Autumn Ember’ (Cultivaris)
With growing interest in begonia, ‘Autumn Ember’ will be a hit. A strong grower with foliage that glows in bright orange russet tones, this is a favorite of Martha Stewart.
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Begonia ‘Encanto Waterfalls Red' (Beekenkamp)
This new red begonia in the Waterfalls series offers large, long-lasting flowers and a trailing habit, making it ideal for large hanging baskets and containers. Joining Orange in the series, a new Pink variety will be introduced soon, as well.
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Bidens ‘Rapid Double Yellow’ (Fides-Oro)
Offering a unique, fringed flower shape, this double bidens offers compact growth and early flowering. It looks great in combos or as a stand-alone specimen.
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Calibrachoa ‘Candy Bouquet’ (Westhoff Flowers)
A stand-alone introduction, ‘Candy Bouquet’ is an attention-grabber with its unique flower pattern and bright colors. With a great, mounding/trailing habit, it performs well in large containers and hanging baskets, and would look great
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Calibrachoa Kabloom Series (PanAmerican Seed)
This breeding breakthrough series of calibrachoa from seed offers growers a full color line series of calibrachoa for premium production at a lower cost than vegetative varieties. Seed will be available September 1. Already trialed by more than 80 growers, the series includes six colors and a bicolor.
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Celosia Hot Topic Series (Royal Van Zanten)
Hot Topic celosia varieties can be used in the garden or in the house as a potted plant. Ideal for containers and the landscape, plants continue flowering for three months in full sun with little maintenance. Hot Topics are available in three attractive colors – Purple, Yellow and Pink.
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Coleus Marquee Collection (Burpee Home Gardens)
Bright, vibrant colors and unique leaf forms show off on naturally branched, no-pinch plants, ideal for small pot programs. These late-flowering varieties work in sun and shade.
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Coleus Terra Nova Series (Terra Nova Nurseries)
This series offers brilliant breakthroughs of color and form. From the well-branched, glowing lime Green Lantern to the flashes of color in Marrakesh, Electric Slide and Cuckoo, all varieties deliver color, form and function.
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Cuphea ‘Vermillionaire’ (Proven Winners)
An absolute hummingbird magnet, this cuphea hybrid is heat and humidity tolerant, needing very little maintenance. Fast-growing, well-branched and mounding, ‘Vermillionaire’ is not prone to edema and looks great by itself or adding texture and interest to combinations.
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Fuchsia Windchimes Series (GreenFuse Botanicals)
Completely upgraded for 2015, the Windchimes genetics offer early flowering and a more uniform response. The new Windchimes Upright series features large, double flowers that are consistently earlier to flower with a uniform habit.
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Gen Geraniums (Vivero)
The 100-acre cuttings producer located south of Mexico City has licensed and supplied American breeders, but this is the first time it is bringing its own production to the American market. Two of its standout introductions for 2014 are geraniums ‘GEN Hot Spot Kiss’ and ‘GEN Pac Darko Velvet Red’
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Geranium Glitterati Series (Hort Couture)
This interspecific geranium series will add sparkle to any combination. Two varieties — Gold Digger and Ice Queen — feature bright red flowers atop variegated foliage for a unique look that’s sure to inspire creativity.
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Geranium So Gorgeous! Collection (HGTV HOME Plant Collection)
The So Gorgeous! Geraniums earn their name with large, double flowers in bold colors and dark-zoned, strong leaves. The exclusive new series includes ‘So Lovely! Pink,’ ‘So Sultry! Red,’ ‘So Fierce! Fuchsia’ and ‘So Amazing! Neon.’
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Impatiens Bounce & Big Bounce Series (Selecta)
The new interspecific series of impatiens from Selecta, Bounce and Big Bounce are resistant to downy mildew while delivering the habit and flower count consumers love in Impatiens walleriana. Both series are touted to bounce back after wilt and thrive in both sun and shade. Bounce is for containers and baskets while Big Bounce is bred for the landscape.
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Lantana Landscape Bandana Series (Syngenta Goldfisch)
Four colors make up this landscape series. Its spreading habit makes it ideal for the landscape and large, mixed containers, because of its robust growth and size. Landscape Bandana performs well in hot summer conditions.
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Lobularia Yolo Series (Dümmen Group)
The new series of Yolo lobularia comes in three colors and offers a uniform, floriferous component plant for containers and landscaping. This compact series has strong, dark foliage and flowers all summer long.
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Nemesia The French Connection ‘Easter Bonnet’ (Plant Haven)
Easter Bonnet nemesia are retail-ready with unique, bicolor blooms in elegant lemon and soft pink tones. Deliciously fragrant and floriferous, Easter Bonnets have a compact, rounded habit that is ideal for early season sales in 4- and 6-inch containers.
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New Guinea Impatiens Florific Series (Syngenta Goldsmith)
The bicolor Sweet Orange, a breeding breakthrough for seed New Guinea impatiens, is a 2014 AAS winner and the new Orange variety expands the series for landscape applications. Extra large, premium flowers sit on top of the foliage for more impact at retail and in the garden.
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Osteospermum ‘Blue Eyed Beauty’ (Ball FloraPlant)
This eye-catching bicolor osteospermum was a trials favorite, with its multitude of uniform blooms, each boasting a huge, blue eye. Upright and full, this variety will look great as a specimen or in combinations.
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Petunia ‘African Sunset’ (American Takii)
A 2014 AAS winner, ‘African Sunset’ is the first orange petunia from seed. With an excellent, mounding habit and strong stems, it displays a high flower count and strong petals that resist humid conditions. Great in baskets and in the landscape, it works for spring, summer and fall sales.
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Petunia Mambo Series (Hem Genetics)
The ultra-low Mambo series offers a range of large-flowered petunias on plants with a naturally dwarf, non-stretching habit with no use of PGRs. They are extra-early flowering and weather resistant, with good shelf life and garden performance.
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Petunia Success Series (Benary)
This series offers varieties that finish within six days of each other, with excellent germination rates. Success has all new genetics.
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Petunia Surfinia Sumo Series (Suntory Flowers)
The new Sumo petunias live up to their name — big, bold and beautiful. Available in Bold Lilac, Pink and Plum, Sumo petunias have large flowers and a vigorous, mounding and full habit.
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Petunia ‘Vivini Blue’ (Cohen Nurseries)
These bright blue petunias offer better shelf life and less disease from bench to garden. They stand up well to weather conditions in different regions and few to no PGRs are needed.
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Verbena Vera Series (PAC-Elsner)
This early blooming, heat-tolerant verbena series has a low, compact habit, similar to Tapien. Available in six vibrant colors – Coral, Rose, Deep Red, Deep Blue, Pink Eye, Purple and White — this series can be bench-run and ready for retail.
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Viola ColorMax Series (Sakata)
With 10 colors and a mix, the ColorMax series offers more color per square foot with free-flowering plants that feature larger flowers than standard violas. ColorMax fills out containers fast, making plants ideal for pots, packs, baskets and combos, as well as landscapes with their superior weather and heat tolerance.
View all
Bacopa ‘Scopia Double Indigo (Danziger)
Begonia boliviensis Bossa Nova Series (Floranova)
Begonia Jurassic Rex Series (Ball Ingenuity)
Begonia ‘Autumn Ember’ (Cultivaris)
Begonia ‘Encanto Waterfalls Red' (Beekenkamp)
Bidens ‘Rapid Double Yellow’ (Fides-Oro)
Calibrachoa ‘Candy Bouquet’ (Westhoff Flowers)
Calibrachoa Kabloom Series (PanAmerican Seed)
Celosia Hot Topic Series (Royal Van Zanten)
Coleus Marquee Collection (Burpee Home Gardens)
Coleus Terra Nova Series (Terra Nova Nurseries)
Cuphea ‘Vermillionaire’ (Proven Winners)
Fuchsia Windchimes Series (GreenFuse Botanicals)
Gen Geraniums (Vivero)
Geranium Glitterati Series (Hort Couture)
Geranium So Gorgeous! Collection (HGTV HOME Plant Collection)
Impatiens Bounce & Big Bounce Series (Selecta)
Lantana Landscape Bandana Series (Syngenta Goldfisch)
Lobularia Yolo Series (Dümmen Group)
Nemesia The French Connection ‘Easter Bonnet’ (Plant Haven)
New Guinea Impatiens Florific Series (Syngenta Goldsmith)
Osteospermum ‘Blue Eyed Beauty’ (Ball FloraPlant)
Petunia ‘African Sunset’ (American Takii)
Petunia Mambo Series (Hem Genetics)
Petunia Success Series (Benary)
Petunia Surfinia Sumo Series (Suntory Flowers)
Petunia ‘Vivini Blue’ (Cohen Nurseries)
Verbena Vera Series (PAC-Elsner)
Viola ColorMax Series (Sakata)
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Laura Drotleff is a former Editor for Greenhouse Grower. See all author stories here.