Good Weather Made for a Strong Year at Young’s Plant Farm Trial Gardens

By Penny Merritt-Price|November 17, 2020

The Young’s Plant Farm trial garden is located in Auburn, AL (UDSA Zone 8). It is 26,000 square feet of raised beds that include sun and shade trials. Each season, 432 individual varieties, 40 combination landscape beds, 56 hanging baskets, and 180 combinations planters are evaluated.

1 of 10

1 of 10

Angelonia ‘Serenita Lavender’ (PanAmerican Seed)
2 of 10

Celosia ‘Bikaver Red’ (HEM Genetics)
3 of 10

Coleus ‘ColorBlaze Pineapple Brandy’ (Proven Winners)
4 of 10

Coleus ‘Main Street Bay Street’ (Dümmen Orange)
5 of 10

Cuphea ‘Tiny Mice’ (Benary+)
6 of 10

Geranium ‘Caldera Pink’ (Syngenta Flowers)
7 of 10

Geranium ‘GardenStar Scarlet Flame’ and ‘Scarlet Lilac’ (Vivero Internacional)
8 of 10

Helianthus ‘Sunbelievable Golden Girl’ (Danziger)
9 of 10

Ipomoea ‘Sweet Georgia Heart Purple’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
10 of 10

Petunia ‘Bee’s Knees’ (Ball FloraPlant)

Data and photos are collected biweekly from planting until the end of the growth season. A rating is given to each plant based on flower quantity, flower quality, vegetative vigor, uniformity, and overall plant health. Data and photos can be viewed on our trial garden website.

We had cool spring nights in Alabama this year, so despite other challenges, the garden turned out great. It also seemed to look better for longer. Typically the hot, humid weather makes the garden suffer in July and August, but this year quite a few varieties thrived until the end.

Overall, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on our gardens were low. Everything was able to be installed and maintained on schedule. Towards the end of the summer a couple of data collection dates were missed due to a personal quarantine when a family member tested positive. The biggest lesson for this year’s trial season was to be flexible. Even if everything does not work out exactly as planned, there is still value in what you can accomplish.

Allowing access to the trial gardens to visitors was one challenge this year, and we tried to remain flexible for visitors to the garden and allow more appointments since we could not have a big open house day. We also stepped up our digital access with videos and social media photos.

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The biggest success for us was how great the garden looked and for how long. Temperatures was mild in the spring with few early summer downpours, which made for a really beautiful garden display well into the season.

In terms of where we are headed, this year proved just how valuable regional field trials are. With overall travel decreased, it was a lot more difficult for people within the industry to see the new varieties at California Spring Trials (CAST) and visit the same trial sites they have in the past. Having a site that you can drive to and see in person what would have been at CAST this year was a huge benefit.

Here are a few plants that impressed me this year (check out the slideshow above for a closer look at ten top performers):

Petunia ‘Bee’s Knees’ from Ball FloraPlant. This petunia made it through the summer (not a given in Alabama) and still looked great. Unique color and heat tolerance – I’m sold!
Helianthus ‘Sunbelievable Golden Girl’ from Danziger. Everybody loves a sunflower, and this one has amazing summer performance. The plants are about 3 feet tall and wide and covered with tons of flowers. It is a solid mass of sunflowers for your garden.
Celosia ‘Bikaver Red’ from HEM Genetics. This is a seed Celosia that has deep-red foliage and bright-red flowers. It looked great all summer long and just got bigger and better with heat.

Penny Merritt-Price is Product Development Manager with Young’s Plant Farm, a Greenhouse Grower Top 100 grower based in Alabama. See all author stories here.