Note: Information for this trials report comes from Mark Yelanich at Metrolina Greenhouses.
We had a very successful trial year, with the weather mostly cooperating (though it was a little hot during our open house). This year we had 2,587 items in ground beds, pots, and/or baskets. There were 1,840 annuals, 383 first-year perennials and 364 perennials planted in 2021. We had 199 combinations in hanging baskets and 122 combinations in planters.
One plant that was a real surprise was the Alstroemeria Inticancha ‘Havana’ from HilverdaFlorist, which was planted in May 2021. Alstroemeria is a good item for us, and this one over-wintered well and kept its flowers all season (It was also flagged by several gardeners at our consumer open house).
Garden begonias are a nicely growing category. While Benary’s Big begonia is the standard for large-growing, sun-loving begonia, we have been greatly impressed with Viking from Sakata. Viking XL Red On Chocolate has great habit and very shiny leaves.
No one ever puts marigolds on these lists, but one is special. The Endurance series from Syngenta has been a long time coming to market but is finally here. Endurance Yellow held up nice through July. It did well in the last three years in trial gardens as well.
We always get a lot of petunia submissions for our garden (258 this year). One that caught a lot of people’s eye was RIMarkable from Danziger. It made it all the way to the end of August and the white rim really catches your eye from a distance.
This year we also started a multi-year Heuchera trial which we will run for two years.