Greenhouse Grower‘s Medal Of Excellence has become one of the premier recognition programs of plant breeding excellence. The Industry’s Choice for Best New Variety award is selected by a panel of industry members who attend California Spring Trials and see the new plant introductions in person.
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Basil ‘Everleaf Emerald Tower’ (PanAmerican Seed)
‘Everleaf Emerald Tower’ flowers up to 10 to 12 weeks later than standard basil. Well branched plants have short internodes and stay tidy for many uses, including in-ground, container gardens and hydroponics. The dark green, glossy foliage and tidy columnar habit of ‘Everleaf Emerald Tower’ basil stand outs at retail. Its traditional Genovese flavor works wonderfully for eating fresh in caprese salads or chopped fresh in recipes.
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Beacon Impatiens (PanAmerican Seed)
With six colors and two mixes available, you should have plenty of options to choose from for PanAmerican Seed’s Beacon Impatiens, which is highly resistant to impatiens downy mildew. These impatiens are similar in habit to Super Elfin impatiens. PanAmerican Seed has sampled them around the world and has entered them in 40 to 50 university trials for even more field performance testing. Full global sales will launch in Jan. 2020.
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Dahlia ‘Sincerity’ (Syngenta Flowers)
‘Sincerity’ is a new vegetative dahlia with big, bold, white and pink bicolor blooms. Compact, well-branched plants have a mounded habit and bloom continuously from spring to summer.
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Digitalis ‘Pink Panther’ (American Takii)
‘Pink Panther’ is an annualized, first-year flowering perennial with a compact habit and long-lasting blooms. Plants are sterile, and don’t self-seed, so blooms last longer. ‘Pink Panther’ is hardy to Zone 5, with cover.
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Imara XDR Impatiens (Syngenta Flowers)
Imara Impatiens are set for distribution across the North American market, with full seed availability for the 2019-2020 season. High disease resistance to impatiens downy mildew runs in these plants’ genes, as they have naturally occurring resistance in the field and the greenhouse. The Imara series has nine core colors and includes a mix and two novelty bicolors. Imara is part of Syngenta Flowers’ new XDR (extreme disease resistance) brand, along with Cora Vinca.
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Lantana ‘Hot Blooded’ (Syngenta Flowers)
This new lantana is naturally well branched with a mounded habit and 25% to 30% more vigor than Bandana lantanas. Medium-sized flowers have great color coverage. Plants are sterile, so they won’t go out of flower in the heat of the summer.
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New Guinea Impatiens ‘Roller Coaster Hot Pink’ (Dümmen Orange)
‘Roller Coaster Hot Pink’ is the start of a new series. It is a shade item that has double blooms with ruffled edges. With its vigorous habit, ‘Roller Coaster Hot Pink’ is a good choice for late spring to early summer sales.
One Leading Grower Is Finding Success With New Perennial Varieties
The Raker-Roberta’s Team: Steve Reed, Jenny Kuhn, Kelly Staats, Susie Raker-Zimmerman
Dr. Allan Armitage, Professor Emeritus of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Greenhouse Grower
Janeen Wright, Greenhouse Grower
See the slideshow above for the new varieties nominated as the Industry’s Choice finalists for 2019, and join us for Greenhouse Grower’s Medal of Excellence Evening on Monday, July 15 at Cultivate’19 to find out which variety is the overall winner.
Special thanks to our title sponsor Multi-Packaging Solutions – WestRock.
015Industry's Choice Best New Plant Variety Finalists Announced for 2019
May 22, 2019 
