The lower regions of the Great Plains have much higher summer temperatures than the states to the north, although it shares the high winds and unpredictable weather found throughout the Plains.
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Verbena bonariensis 'Pompous Purple' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Cultivar for Missouri Botanical Garden
Missouri Botanical Garden comments: Verbena ‘Pompous Purple’ is shorter than the species and most useful and beautiful. It didn't need deadheading until long after the trials, late in the fall.
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Coleus Solenostemon 'Partytime Lime' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Cultivar for Missouri Botanical Garden
Missouri Botanical Garden comments: Solenostemon 'Party Lime’ is terrific for cultural reasons — it didn't show any flowers during the trials. But the small stature of the plant is what is most notable. Less than 8 inches tall, the plant and its color is quite different from most desirable trailing coleus, which are shades of pink and purple. The variety of uses consumers can put 'Partytime Lime' to will make it very popular.
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Coleus Solenostemon 'Flamethrower Chili Pepper' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Cultivar for Missouri Botanical Garden
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Coleus Solenostemon 'Colorblaze Apple Brandy' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Cultivar for Missouri Botanical Garden
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Tagetes patula 'Proud Mari Orange' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Cultivar for Missouri Botanical Garden
A Top 10 Performing Cultivar for Missouri Botanical Garden
Missouri Botanical Garden comments: All cultivars of Sunpatiens did extremely well as expected. This series loves our climate and may outpace all other hawkeri entries. It certainly has taken the limelight over catharanthus, and it's a candidate to replace impatiens walleriana, which suffers from downy mildew in our area.
A Top 10 Performing Cultivar for Missouri Botanical Garden
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Begonia semperflorens 'Senator White Improved' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Cultivar for Missouri Botanical Gardenen
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Dahlia 'Mystic Illusion' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Cultivar for Missouri Botanical Garden
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Begonia 'BabyWing Red' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
Best In Show for Missouri Botanical Garden
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Canna 'Cannova Lemon' from Ball Ingenuity (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
Best In Show for Missouri Botanical Garden
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Celosia 'Dragons Breath' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
Best In Show for Missouri Botanical Garden
Missouri Botanical Garden comments: Although it did not get enough votes for the top 10, this celosia did not suffer from any dieback or attrition during the entire growing season. It is very compact and exhibits shades of deep pink that turn to red at the end of summer. It has limited flowers with its super foliage color, but the lack of flowers may have contributed to its lack of votes.
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Zinnia 'Double Zahara Yellow' from Ball Horticulture (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
Best In Show from Oklahoma State Field Trials
Oklahoma State University comments: This chiffon yellow cultivar always looked completely fresh and absolutely stellar.
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Petunia 'Easy Wave Yellow' from PanAmerican Seed (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Variety from Oklahoma State University Field Trials
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Petunia 'Shock Wave Yellow' from PanAmerican Seed (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Variety from Oklahoma State University Field Trials
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Petunia 'Triology White' from American Takii (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Variety from Oklahoma State University Field Trials
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Coleus 'Mighty Mosaic' from PanAmerican Seed (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Variety from Oklahoma State University Field Trials (for both sun and shade trials)
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Angelonia 'Serenita Sky Blue' from PanAmerican Seed (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Variety from Oklahoma State University Field Trials
Oklahoma State University comments: It reached summer's end with an even stronger show than 'Serenita Pink.'
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Agastache 'Arizona Sun' from American Takii (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Variety from Oklahoma State University Field Trials
Oklahoma State University comments: Impressively, this finished summer with a solid plot.
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Vinca 'Valiant Burgundy' from PanAmerican Seed (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Variety from Oklahoma State University Field Trials
Oklahoma State University comments: This and other Valiants showed no problems with wet conditions.
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Vinca 'Valiant Punch' from PanAmerican Seed (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Variety from Oklahoma State University Field Trials
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French Marigold 'Hot Pak Gold' from PanAmerican Seed (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Variety from Oklahoma State University Field Trials
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Melampodium 'Million Gold' from American Takii (Oklahoma State University Field Trials)
A Top 10 Performing Variety from Oklahoma State University Field Trials
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Verbena bonariensis 'Pompous Purple' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
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Coleus Solenostemon 'Partytime Lime' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
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Coleus Solenostemon 'Flamethrower Chili Pepper' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
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Coleus Solenostemon 'Colorblaze Apple Brandy' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
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Tagetes patula 'Proud Mari Orange' (2015 Missouri Botanical Garden Field Trials)
Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis and Oklahoma State University in Oklahoma City held trials in 2015, testing which plants performed best in their regional weather.
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Here are a few notes on each trial before we get to the photo gallery of top performers:
Missouri Botanical Garden
Missouri Botanical Garden’s field trials experienced cooler weather in 2015 than most summers. There were less than 14 days of temperatures over 90˚F. Most days were in mid to high 80s, with much less humidity. Throughout May, June, and part of July, rainfall was much heavier than normal. August and early September were very dry and irrigation became necessary.
Why This Hydrangea From Green Fuse Botanicals Is a Gamechanger (Video)
There were 165 items and a total of 4,149 plants. Missouri Botanical Garden’s trials are located in the Kemper Center for Home Gardening in six separate beds. Each partial or whole bed was dedicated to a different breeder or distributor.
The early cool, wet weather was hard on catharanthus, petunias, and pentas. They all got a late start because of cool, wet weather but thrived once the sun returned on a regular basis.
Oklahoma State University
This was a year to enjoy the trials to the max. It was surprisingly wet at the Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City trials, with frequent rains through June and beyond. Temperatures were mostly moderate for this region. Many of the 100 entries performed quite well throughout the entire trialing season.
Wary of trialing petunias in the ground due to disease pressure, OSU trialed them out of large Smart Pots™. Many people were taken with their showy and consistent presentation. The sun trials bed aisles were kept clean with a swath of geotextile; this proved to be a significant help as the abundant rains encouraged vigorous weed pressure.