California Spring Trials 2023 Preview: Foliage Finds a Home
California Spring Trials (CAST) 2023 is right around the corner, taking place March 29-April 2 along the California coast. What can you expect to discover at CAST this year? Over the next three weeks, GreenhouseGrower.com offers a series of slideshows, video previews, and more.
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Begonia 'Lunar Lights Sterling Moon' (Plant Development Services, Inc.)
Begonia ‘Lunar Lights Sterling Moon’ delivers a gorgeous glow with puckered, forest-green leaves frosted in silver and mint green flecking. Salmon pink flowers pick up pink highlighting that emerges on new leaves. Stunning in a container or partial shade border, ‘Sterling Moon’ grows to a show-stopping 24 to 30 inches high by 24 to 30 inches wide. Grow this variety as a perennial in USDA Zones 7-9, or as the perfect container plant in colder zones. Available in the Southern Living Plant Collection and Sunset Plant Collection.
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Strobilanthes 'Purple Waffle' (Jaldety Nursery)
Evergreen perennial, grown for their unique foliage. Rich metallic purple-green tinted leaves with waffle-like texture. Grow easily and low-maintenance plants. Adds a decorator and colorful touch in-house, out in the garden, and any outdoor spaces. Perfect for hanging baskets, and great for small or big pots for sunny spots indoors or partly shaded patios and decks. Good color impact as a small group planting in the garden. Low growing and dense habit. USDA Zones 8-11.
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Setcreasea 'Zebrina Bordeaux' (Jaldety Nursery)
Bold and colorful showy zebra patterned foliage. Striped purplish, green and silver leaves on dark stems. Great foliage power effect in house and garden spaces, in hanging baskets and boxes, big containers. Contrasting small ground covers, fillers, informal planting, beds, rock gardens, gently crawl over stones and other hardscape elements. Low growing, dense, trailing habit. Heat and drought tolerant, easy to grow, low maintenance. USDA Zones: 8-11.
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Setcreasea 'Tricolor Power' (Jaldety Nursery)
Attractive white and green striping with pink-edged leaves, light purple on the underside. Bold and showy color effect indoors and out, in hanging baskets, and containers. Upright, dense rosette growth forming habit. Great use in big containers for patio and decks, mix borders, water wise garden planting, cottage and meadow gardens, and beds. Contrasting small ground covers, fillers, informal planting, beds, rock gardens. Heat and drought tolerant, easy to grow, low maintenance. USDA Zones: 8-11.
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Setcreasea 'Green White Beauty' (Jaldety Nursery)
Attractive variegated, striped green- and white-patterned foliage. Great color effect in indoor and outdoor spaces, in hanging baskets, and containers. Contrasting small ground covers, fillers, informal planting, beds, rock gardens. Low growing, dense, trailing habit. Heat and drought tolerant, easy to grow, low maintenance. USDA Zone: 8-11.
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Hypericum 'Magic Marbles' (Kientzler)
Popular fall item comes to North America after European success. Compact habit great for containers. Bright yellow flowers transition to elegant red berries.
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Colocasia 'Royal Hawaiian' (PlantHaven)
Colocasia ‘Royal Hawaiian Waikiki’ has been making waves through the industry. Recently receiving an All-America Selections and Green Thumb award for 2023, ‘Waikiki’ is an outstanding addition to the series with its deep-green glossy foliage with white markings and vivid pink veins. Gaining the coloration earlier than ‘White Lava’, at fur to five leaves. Bred for sturdy garden performance and container specimens in full sun with excellent disease resistance. USDA Zone 7B.
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Coleus 'Talavera Pink Tricolor' (Syngenta Flowers)
Talavera is a new series of coleus featuring sun-tolerant varieties that maintain color and foliage patterns in both sun and shade conditions. It features late flowering selections for tidy, non-bolting plants in the garden.
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Coleus 'Downtown NYC Nights' (Dümmen Orange)
A bold addition to Dümmen Orange’s coleus collection, Coleus ‘Downtown NYC Nights’ is a fine-textured, two-toned foliage and its compact habit gives small spaces a bold look. Its late flowering, medium-compact vigor allows for finishing in quarts and gallons. Durable box shipping excels for e-commerce sales. For use indoors or outdoors. One of six bold colors in the new Downtown series.
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Capsicum 'Onyx Orange' (American Takii)
Capsicum ‘Onyx Orange’ has striking black/dark purple foliage that contrasts with the vibrant, round, orange fruit that is produced in clusters all over the plant. ‘Onyx Orange’ has an attractive compact, branching habit that makes a lovely presentation even without fruit. Best in 6-inch and gallon pots.
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Begonia rex 'Love Vintage' (Green Fuse Botanicals)
A crowd favorite in trials, it’s easy to fall in Love. The Love Series is extremely grower friendly with high vigor and predictable finish times. Colors of Lemon, Lime, Burgundy, Vintage, and Turtle all produce bright colors in solid and marbled leaves. They are all right at home on the porch or in the home for year-long texture and color.
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Begonia rex 'Love Turtle' (Green Fuse Botanicals)
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Begonia rex 'Love Lime' (Green Fuse Botanicals)
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Begonia rex 'Love Lemon' (Green Fuse Botanicals)
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Begonia rex 'Love Burgundy' (Green Fuse Botanicals)
View all
Begonia 'Lunar Lights Sterling Moon' (Plant Development Services, Inc.)
Strobilanthes 'Purple Waffle' (Jaldety Nursery)
Setcreasea 'Zebrina Bordeaux' (Jaldety Nursery)
Setcreasea 'Tricolor Power' (Jaldety Nursery)
Setcreasea 'Green White Beauty' (Jaldety Nursery)
Hypericum 'Magic Marbles' (Kientzler)
Colocasia 'Royal Hawaiian' (PlantHaven)
Coleus 'Talavera Pink Tricolor' (Syngenta Flowers)
Coleus 'Downtown NYC Nights' (Dümmen Orange)
Capsicum 'Onyx Orange' (American Takii)
Begonia rex 'Love Vintage' (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Begonia rex 'Love Turtle' (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Begonia rex 'Love Lime' (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Begonia rex 'Love Lemon' (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Begonia rex 'Love Burgundy' (Green Fuse Botanicals)
In the slideshow above, learn how new foliage varieties can help complement baskets and combos, or stand out on their own.
You can find the complete CAST lineup and schedule here.
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Brian Sparks is senior editor of Greenhouse Grower and editor of Greenhouse Grower Technology. See all author stories here.