Why 2021 Was Top Notch for Mast Young Plants’ Field Trials
November 18, 2021 Mast Young Plants takes its trials seriously. The staff knows the quality of care competes with the weather. This year, everything worked in concert and produced excellent trials. Brian Weesies of Mast Young Plants reports the following:
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“We went into the 2021 trial garden season with high expectations. We had a decent turnout in 2020 even with COVID-19 restrictions in place, and we felt that 2021 would be a big year. We were pleased when visitors started coming even before Cultivate and then continued on all summer in very strong numbers. It was nice to welcome so many visitors who annually attended our trials but then took 2020 off and stayed home.
“The weather was somewhat typical in Michigan, and our open house dates were not overly impacted in a negative way by extreme weather. The first week of the open house, it was hot and humid, but everyone was watching the forecast and the second week cooled off and was beautiful. We were blessed with a great weather season. Often when we get a dry summer like we had this year, we say that works out better for our plants, as then the moisture they are getting is what we supply, which comes with liquid fertilizer at each watering.
“The quality of our trial was excellent this year. As a staff that has grown this trial for multiple years, we aren’t fooled into thinking our trial is good when the quality is poor. It is frustrating when we put in all the work, and then the plants don’t perform well. We did not have that problem this year. The quality of the plants right up until the end of the season was excellent. People often commented on how nice everything looked. We had some visitors who went so far as to say that our trial was as good as any they had seen, and those people had visited many key trials around the U.S. This was a very humbling comment to which we replied, “We are happy to take the compliments when it goes well, but we also know what it feels like to see people disappointed when they come to visit, and for us, we put the same effort in each year. It is a great feeling to put that effort in and then get rewarded with high-quality plants!”
Weesies highlights the following top performers:
Top New items
Helianthus ‘Sol Seeker Yellow’ (Danziger)
Begonia ‘I’Conia Portofino Scentiment Peachy Keen’ (Dümmen Orange)
Petunia ‘Durabloom Electric Lilac’ (Dümmen Orange)
Helianthus ‘Sunbelieveable Brown-Eyed Girl’ (Thompson & Morgan)
Petunia ‘Sanguna Banana Candy’ (Syngenta Flowers)
Petunia ‘Dekko Sorbet’ (Syngenta Flowers)
Nemesia ‘Nesia Inca’ (Danziger)
Calibrachoa ‘Colibri Pink Bling’ (Danziger)
Calibrachoa ‘Calitastic Bordeaux Star’ (Westflowers)
Petunia ‘Blanket Silver Surprise’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Top Consumer Favorites (voted on with flags)
Helianthus ‘Sol Seeker Yellow’ (Danziger)
Crespedia ‘Golf Beauty Imp’ (Danziger)
Petunia ‘Blanket Silver Surprise’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Impatiens ‘New Guinea Spectra Bright Red’ (Syngenta Flowers)
XPetchoa ‘SuperCal Premium Sunset Orange’ (Sakata Ornamentals)
Best of the Best
Drought Tolerant Annual – Portulaca ’24/7 Yellow’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
Drought Tolerant Perennial – Artemisia ‘Sun Fern Olympia’ (Darwin Perennials)
Best Pollinator-Friendly Annual – Helianthus ‘Sunbelieveable Brown-Eyed Girl’ (Thompson & Morgan)
Best Pollinator-Friendly Perennial – Gaura ‘Belleza White’ (Selecta One)
Best Heat-Tolerant Annual – Petunia ‘Itsy White’ (Syngenta Flowers)
Best Heat-Tolerant Perennial – Ajuga ‘Feathered Friends Tropical Toucan’ (Chris Hansen)
Best Overall Performance Annual – Petunia ‘Shortcake Blueberry’ (Syngenta Flowers)
Best Overall Performance Perennial – Scabiosa ‘Butterfly Blue’ (Walters Gardens)
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