Begonia hyb. ‘RiseUp Grenadine Red’ (Westhoff)
- Strong branching
- Flowers stay upright
- Flower power in both sun and shade
Begonia Shine Bright Mix (Westhoff)
- Works well for hanging baskets and in combination containers
- Well-branched plants with strong flower power
- Thrives in hot and humid summer climates
- Performs well in both sun or shade
Calibrachoa 'Candy Shop Grape Splash' (Westhoff)
- Unique brushwork bicolor pattern
- Early flowering time
- Semi-trailing habit
- Works well for spring baskets or as a component to combination containers
Carex morrowii ssp. foliosissima 'Vanilla Ice' (Cultivaris)
- Selection of C. 'Ice Dance' with broader, vanilla-cream margins
- Overall brighter, cleaner appearance
- Works well as a ground cover
- Performs well in shade
Campanula carpatica 'Avida Blue' (Schoneveld Breeding)
- Uniform growth and flowering
- Less plant growth regulators required
- Grown from seed
- Works well as perennial or pot plant
- Flowers abundantly with large blooms
Cyclamen Verano Series (Schoneveld Breeding)
- Fast and uniform blooms
- Works well for phased summer growth
- Forms trio with Carino and Mini Winter series for mini cyclamen assortment from summer to winter
Echinacea Mooodz Series (Hilverdakooij)
- Uses different cultivation method (without vernalization)
- Produces full plants in 12 to 13 weeks
- Propagated through tissue culture
- Full plants with many side shoots
Echinacea 'Mooodz Cosy' (Hilverdakooij)
- Uses different cultivation method (without vernalization)
- Produces full plants in 12 to 13 weeks
- Propagated through tissue culture
- Full plants with many side shoots
Echinacea 'Prima Cinnamon' (Terra Nova Nurseries)
- Low and compact with many tight double flowers
- Works well for containers or borders
- Quickly forms a crown with multiple blooms in the first year
- Blooms June to October
Echinacea 'Mooodz Satisfy' (Hilverdakooij)
- Uses different cultivation method (without vernalization)
- Produces full plants in 12 to 13 weeks
- Propagated through tissue culture
- Full plants with many side shoots
Felicia amelloides 'Amélie Blue' (Cultivaris)
- Compact and bushy habit
- Flowers profusely without cold treatment, but do benefit from it
Gaura lindheimeri ‘Lillipop Supreme’ (Cultivaris)
- Compact variety with good basal branching
- No need for vernalization
- Stout, large pink flowers on compact plant
Heuchera 'Northern Exposure Purple' (Terra Nova Nurseries)
- Round leaves and good crown
- Purple to silver leaves
- Hardy H. richardsonii breeding for cold tolerance and good rust resistance
- Blooms May to September
New Guinea Impatiens 'Paradise Select Dark Moyo' (Kientzler)
- New addition to series
- Uniform flower genetics that perform well in the garden
- Bright, two-tone bicolor blooms
Pansy 'Cello Raspberry Surprise' (Hem-Genetics)
- Large-flowered pansy series
- Series performs well as both a fall and spring pansy
- Color combination in the flowers works well for fall and spring
Petchoa hyb. 'SuperCal Premium' (Kientzler)
- Sakata breeding
- Early to flower
- Upright mounding habit
- Heat tolerance and expanded garden performance
- Pictured: Two-variety combination called Autumn Spice, containing SuperCal Premium varieties Cinnamon and French Vanilla
Petunia 'BigDeal Chocolate Cherries' (Westhoff)
- Durable, landscape-grade petunia
- Bred to flower early, grow taller, and spread wider
- Vigorous
Petunia 'Constellation Pyxis' (Westhoff)
- Star-eyed pattern
- Vigorous, trailing habit
- Remains stable under various conditions
Primula 'Perola Yellow Red Bicolor' (Schoneveld Breeding)
- Firm flower stems
- Less plant growth regulator required
- Primula Perola is a Primula polyanthus, and is new in the range this year
- Long-stemmed
Primula Touch Me Mini Mix (Schoneveld Breeding)
- Genetically small, compact plants for production in pot sizes 9 to 10
- Suitable for retail
- Touch Me Mini is a smaller version of Touch Me, which makes the product ideal for efficient supply and transport
Ranunculus 'Sprinkles Dwarf Pink' (Schoneveld Breeding)
- Half-height pot Ranunculus with fresh, bright colors
- Compact, full plant
- Uniform blooms
- Sprinkles performs best at low temperatures
- Requires less plant growth regulator
Rehmannia hyb. ‘Crouching Tiger′ (Cultivaris)
- Pure-white flowers with tiger-spotted throat
- After cool treatment, it flowers May to October
- 10 inch flower spike on a tidy plant
Rehmannia hyb. ‘Hidden Dragon′ (Cultivaris)
- Pink flowers with tiger-spotted throat
- After cool treatment, it flowers May to October
- 10-inch flower spike on a tidy plant
Verbena 'Vepita Amethyst' (Kientzler)
- New bi-color addition to early flowering, compact Vepita series
- Holds the same reliability and resistance to mildew found within the Vepita series
Verbena 'Estrella Pink' (Westhoff)
- Verbena hybrid
- High mildew tolerance
- All-season durability in the landscape
- Plants start with an upright habit and become semi-trailing as they grow
Viola 'Corina Deep Blue and White' (Hem-Genetics)
- Uniformity across series
- Three new colors
- Strong flower power
California Spring Trials 2018 features the newest ornamental and vegetable varieties that breeders will soon be introducing to the market. Greenhouse Grower Editors Laura Drotleff and Janeen Wright, along with Contributing Editor Allan Armitage and Andrew Scheldorf, winner of the Dr. Allan Armitage Scholarship for the Ornamental Spring Trials, will soon be in California, sharing the latest varieties with you and keeping you current on the latest news and marketing ideas.
Watch for daily news during the week in special Benchrunner editions with insider views on promising plants, slideshows of new introductions, and Allan Armitage’s top plant picks.
Until then, we’ll give you a peek at some of the 2018 introductions breeders shared with us that will hit the retail market in 2019.
This slideshow covers some of the stops in the Central Region and the Northern Region:
Kientzler (Windmill Nursery, Buellton, CA) – Central Region
Terra Nova Nurseries (Windmill Nursery, Buellton, CA) – Central Region
Cultivaris (Pacific Plug & Liner, Watsonville, CA) – Northern Region
Hem Genetics (Salinas, CA) – Northern Region
Hilverdakooij (American Takii, Salinas, CA) – Northern Region
Westhoff (Floricultura, Salinas, CA) – Northern Region
In Case You Missed It:
California Spring Trials 2018 Northern Region Preview: Spring Meadow Nursery, Syngenta, Danziger, Cohen, Hishtil, Jaldety, Nir
California Spring Trials 2018 Northern Region Preview: Benary, American Takii, Sakata Ornamentals, Beekenkamp, and More
California Spring Trials 2018 Central Region Preview: Ball Horticultural, Dümmen Orange, PlantHaven, Suntory Flowers
2018 California Spring Trials Central Region Preview: Green Fuse Botanicals, Floranova, Vegetalis, Florist, Royal Van Zanten, Vivero Internacional
Janeen Wright is former Editor for Greenhouse Grower. . See all author stories here.