New Petunias and Calibrachoas for 2018 from California Spring Trials
We asked breeders to share with us pictures and information on some of the great new petunias and calibrachoas that you’ll see at California Spring Trials 2017. They didn’t let you down. These new petunia and calibrachoa introductions have all the great characteristics you’ve come to rely on from breeders — excellent branching, good uniformity, flower power, and most important, long-lasting garden performance. Check out the slideshow to see some of the new varieties making their debut to the trade in 2018, and watch for more slideshows on other annuals, perennials, shrubs, and vegetables you can expect to see on the California Spring Trials circuit this spring.
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Calibrachoa ‘Bloomtastic Rose Quartz’ and ‘Serenity’ (Dümmen Orange)
The Bloomtastic Calibrachoa series was bred to be the most vigorous calibrachoa series offered by Dümmen Orange. Both ‘Rose Quartz’ and ‘Serenity’ feature remarkable heat tolerance, iridescent extra-large flowers, and a spreading growth habit, which makes them perfect for hanging baskets and even landscape applications.
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Calibrachoa Conga Series (Ball FloraPlant)
Conga announces a phenomenal new variety introduction year to continue building momentum. The series has nine new and improved colors for easy-to-produce quarts and color bowls. Conga’s naturally compact habit is perfect for pot-tight production and no PGRs are needed. Excellent pH tolerance and profuse flowering give Conga superior hold at retail.
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Calibrachoa ‘Cruze Grape Delicious’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Grape Delicious touts extra large, bicolored flowers, and each new Cruze introduction is earlier to flower with an increased color range. This year’s introductions and improvements include Lemon, Pink Delicious Improved, Red Improved, and Yellow Improved.
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Calibrachoa ‘Million Bells Butter Pop’ (Suntory Flowers)
Inspired by buttered popcorn, this new Million Bells variety is two-toned with pale-yellow flowers that have dark-yellow centers. Its habit is mounded and bursting with flowers, like a full bowl of popcorn. Plants are earlier to flower than the current yellow Million Bells varieties.
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Calibrachoa Conga MiniFamous Neo Series (Selecta)
MiniFamous Neo offers consistency across the entire series. Neo has the tightest bloom window and provides the uniform habit and flowering time growers seek, along with the excellent performance today’s consumers demand. MiniFamous Neo shows early flowering with a five-day flowering window, has large single blooms, a semi-trailing habit, and medium vigor. Pictured: Pink Strike
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Calibrachoa ‘Superbells Blue Moon Punch’ (Proven Winners)
These cool silvery lavender blooms have a dark eye, and are early to flower in week nine. Abundant flowers will cover this plant, and promise to draw attention as they cascade out of baskets, patio containers, and window baskets. This new addition takes the colorful series of full sun Superbells Punch varieties to seven color options.
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Constellation Petunia Series (Westhoff)
Eye-catching, starry-eyed patterns cover these unique petunia blooms. Constellation Petunias have a vigorous, mounded-trailing habit and excellent garden performance. The series of three colors will be available through all brokers as unrooted cuttings or rooted liners. Colors in the series include: Aries, Gemini, and Virgo. Pictured: Gemini
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Grandiflora Petunia F1 Limbo *GP* Picotees (Hem Genetics)
Hem Genetics is introducing breakthrough grandiflora petunias in this year with picoteed colors to its Limbo *GP* series ─ Red Picotee, Rose Picotee, and Burgundy Picotee ─ with more colors coming in 2018. The Series benefit is there is no need for plant growth regulators to keep the plants compact, both for growers and gardeners.
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Petunia ‘Blue Picotee’ (Kientzler)
‘Blue Picotee’ is a daylength neutral designer petunia line bred by David Kerley that has a good mounded habit and weather resistance. It will be available commercially in 2018.
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Petunia ‘Cascadias Red Lips’ (Danziger “Dan” Flower Farm)
‘Cascadia Red Lips’ grows into a spectacular basket, overflowing with large, glowing-red flowers. It is early to flower and has a branched and semi-trailing habit. Red Lips looks beautiful, even in cold and rainy weather.
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Petunia ‘Success! Pink Star’ (Ernst Benary of America)
Introducing the first pink star in trailing petunias from seed SUCCESS! Series. This incredible color has a stable color pattern and well-ounded habit. Earliness, plant habit, and uniformity fit perfectly into the SUCCESS! series.
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Petunia ‘Success! Purple’ (Ernst Benary of America)
In trailing petunias, purple is king. You need the best color, the best show, and the best habit for maximum profits. At last, ‘SUCCESS! Purple is here. This intense, vibrant purple will stand out on the bench and at retail.
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Petunia ‘Success! Yellow Chiffon‘ (Ernst Benary of America)
Yellow Chiffon is as refreshing as a cool glass of lemonade. The well-formed, light-yellow blooms don’t reflex, and they hold their color all season. A great choice for premium baskets and mixes, ‘SUCCESS! Yellow Chiffon’ lives up to the high standards of the SUCCESS! Series.
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Petunia SuperCal Buttercream Red Crimson Mix (Sakata Seed)
New Buttercream and Crimson Red offer two unique colors and all-weather garden performance. This gorgeous combo is ideal for quart and basket production with vigorous, well-branched plants. Plus, early blooms provide constant color.
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Petunia ‘Supertunia Vista Valentine’ (Proven Winners)
A true, bright-pink petunia joins the popular line of sun-loving Supertunia Vistas. These plants are vigorous, with mounding habits that can reach up to 2 feet in height in the landscape and will trail over the edges of baskets and containers up to 4 feet by the end of the season. They are fantastic landscape plants and are great in large containers, where they function as both fillers and spillers.
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Petunia ‘Surfinia Trailing Red’ (Suntory Flowers)
The new ‘Surfinia Trailing Red’ petunia is even better and redder than ever. Compared to the popular ‘Surfinia Deep Red,’ plants are fuller, more vigorous. The flower color is brighter and larger.
View all
Calibrachoa ‘Bloomtastic Rose Quartz’ and ‘Serenity’ (Dümmen Orange)
Calibrachoa Conga Series (Ball FloraPlant)
Calibrachoa ‘Cruze Grape Delicious’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Calibrachoa ‘Million Bells Butter Pop’ (Suntory Flowers)
Calibrachoa Conga MiniFamous Neo Series (Selecta)
Calibrachoa ‘Superbells Blue Moon Punch’ (Proven Winners)
Constellation Petunia Series (Westhoff)
Grandiflora Petunia F1 Limbo *GP* Picotees (Hem Genetics)
Petunia ‘Blue Picotee’ (Kientzler)
Petunia ‘Cascadias Red Lips’ (Danziger “Dan” Flower Farm)
Petunia ‘Success! Pink Star’ (Ernst Benary of America)
Petunia ‘Success! Purple’ (Ernst Benary of America)
Petunia ‘Success! Yellow Chiffon‘ (Ernst Benary of America)
Petunia SuperCal Buttercream Red Crimson Mix (Sakata Seed)
Petunia ‘Supertunia Vista Valentine’ (Proven Winners)
Petunia ‘Surfinia Trailing Red’ (Suntory Flowers)
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Janeen Wright is former Editor for Greenhouse Grower. . See all author stories here.