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Allan Armitage: Plants That Caught My Eye on the First Day of California Spring Trials

Allan Armitage By Allan Armitage|March 30, 2023

Oh my, what an opening day we had at the 2023 California Spring Trials (CAST)! With visits to Green Fuse Botanicals, Beekenkamp Plants, Westhoff, Schoneveld Breeding, and Hem Genetics, followed up by the myriad of firms of Ball Horticultural, we saw dozens of plants and programs. I have been to CAST almost 20 times and I am not easily impressed, yet I have no trouble sharing with you the plants that truly caught my eye on our first day here. I could share at least 10 plants, but time and space allow me to share but these few — and this is but Day 1.

  • Silene Carol Jean series (Green Fuse Botanicals): This is part of Green Fuse’s new groundcover program, and many of the plants in the program will do very well in the future. However, I am so pleased to see a Silene that flowers for a long period of time, is compact yet well branched, cold hardy, and low enough to the ground to be considered a groundcover. Available in white and pink (I think the pink will turn out to be a no-brainer), this should be added to any nursery’s groundcover list.
  • Calibrachoa ‘Cappuchino’ (Westhoff): Westhoff has always been an innovator of color. Their Crazytunias opened the sluice gates of weird but wonderful colors. Without doubt, there are sufficient calibrachoas available that we probably don’t need another, but ‘Cappuchino’ was hard to walk past without stopping for a second look.  It is handsome in its own right, but seems to be a wonderful complement for other plants as well.
  • Tacoma Kalama series (Ball Ingenuity): I have had trouble loving Tacoma; it has been a tease, promising beauty and performance but never delivering. I had given up, yet here in front of me is perhaps the plant I have been waiting for. The Kalama series is heat tolerant, drought tolerant, flowers early, branches well, and appears to be a lot better behaved than any Tacoma I have seen or trialed. If it is half as good as Ball Ingenuity claims, I am on board, and recommend you order some today. Three very nice colors.
  • Cuphea ‘Sweet Talk Lavender Splash’ (Pan American Seed): Cupheas seem to talk three steps forward and two steps back. Everyone knows its tolerance of heat and drought, and there are more cupheas introduced every year. So, let’s welcome the Sweet Talk series, with its three handsome colors. However, my eyes zoomed into the large flowers and the interesting color of Lavender Splash. Strong stems, upright habit, and a hummingbird magnet, are three reasons to give it a go.
  • Lantana ‘Passion Fruit’ (Ball Flora Plant): I suppose one could argue that we have enough lantanas, and I would probably not disagree. However, it is impossible to pass ‘Passion Fruit’ without taking a second look. Not only are they quite beautiful, plants of ‘Passion Fruit’ have pendulous stems, making it an outstanding plant for baskets and containers. I believe this will walk off retail tables.

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Allan Armitage was a professor in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Georgia for 30 years. He recently retired and remains an active consultant, author and lecturer. See all author stories here.