Costa Farms Season Premiere Highlights What’s New in Plants

More than 200 ornamentals industry insiders made their way to Miami, FL, in early March when Costa Farms opened its 2-acre Trial Garden for its annual Season Premiere. Attendees had the opportunity to check out 360 different plant varieties, 55% of which were new annual and perennial introductions, during the two-day event. A sneak peek of 2020/2021 plant introductions from 28 breeders around the globe were available before the upcoming California Spring Trials in April.

“For the last 11 years, we’ve collaborated and engaged with global breeding companies to test and introduce new varieties to this category,” says Maria Costa Smith, Executive Vice President of Horticulture and Planning at Costa Farms. “Our teams are dedicated to finding the top performers that will work for our customers and in consumers’ homes.”

The Trial Garden offers a series of beautifully designed landscape beds, row beds to compare plant performance, hanging basket trials, and mixed-container garden trials. All the plants were transplanted in the garden late last year and will be evaluated over spring and summer to determine the best performers. Many of the plant breeders, as well as the Costa Farms research and development team, were on-site to help answer questions and give additional insights