Stand-Out Performers From Mast Young Plants 2022 Plant Trials
For Mast Young Plants in Grand Rapids, MI, the growing season featured very typical weather for western Michigan. According to Brian Weesies, General Manager of Mast Young Plants, it was dry through July, resulting in the plants receiving mainly fertilizer feeds.
View all
‘That, combined with the lack of rain on the foliage, made for a nice-looking trial,” Weesies says. “We received much more rain in August, which may have led to our trial tiring a bit earlier than is normal. “
Mast Young Plants has both an upper and a lower garden that are fed from two different injectors.
“We did have a bit of struggle with the injector for the lower garden, and the plants reflected this for a period,” Weesies says. “As we got this corrected and the plants began to receive the correct fertilizer and pH in the water, we saw the plants respond and come back in September to look very nice at the end of the season.”
By the time the trial gardens were open, Mast hosted its largest number of visitors since 2019, including several nontraditional first-time gardening and plant enthusiasts.
“We had held our first annual MYP customer day back in 2019, took an unexpected two-year break, and held our second annual customer day in August. We loved hosting this event and connecting with so many of our local growers and customers,” Weesies says. “Our new varieties area for both sun and shade plants performed well this year, and our first-ever printed new variety guide helped visitors explore and record notes about our new varieties.“
Mast Young Plants also tried a few new things in 2022, as it aimed to return to a traditional trial season, Weesies says.
- “We grew out plants from Lazzeri, an Italian breeder whose varieties aren’t often seen in U.S. trials. We enjoyed seeing what this breeder is working on and specializing in.”
- “We did our first ever vegetative petunia bed vs. container trial. Our garden traditionally has displayed the vegetative petunias in ground beds. We know that some varieties perform better in containers than ground beds, so this comparison trial helped visitors see where best to fit specific varieties in their finished plant programs.”
- “We printed a first-ever trial garden guide booklet for our new varieties, complete with color photos, habit descriptions, and breeder names. This allowed visitors to record notes on new varieties in one central place.”
Three plants in particular stood out in the trials.
- Begonia ‘Fragrant Falls Peach’ from Beekenkamp: “This variety has been a top pick for at least the last four years in our garden. Most begonias aren’t fragrant and as the name implies, this one is. Its habit looks great from the beginning to the end of the summer, and it performs well in both sun and shade. We just can’t get enough of it.”
- New Guinea Impatiens ‘Roller Coaster Hot Pink’ from Dümmen Orange: “The electric brightness of this variety is stunning, and a closer view of the flowers explains its name. The flowers are ruffled and look very high end for a New Guinea Impatiens. This variety, grown under 30% shade cloth, looked great in our garden from the beginning to the end of the trial.”
- New Guinea Impatiens ‘Spectra Bright Red’ by Syngenta Flowers: “This one is very appropriately named – it’s an eye-catching bright red. We grew it in our 30% shade area, but it can be grown in full sun or part shade. We observed that over the course of the summer it outperformed standard New Guinea Impatiens. The Spectra series is an interspecific cross and the results are a multipurpose New Guinea that looks great from spring to fall.”
Top performers
- Echinacea ‘Panama Red’ (Danziger)
- Bracteantha ‘Granvia Gold’ (Suntory Flowers)
- Bidens ‘Namid Red + Yellow Eye’ (Selecta)
- Portulaca ‘Pazazz Nano Orange Twist’ (Danziger)
- New Guinea Impatiens ‘Sunpatiens Compact Lavender Splash’ (Sakata)
- Angelonia ‘AngelDance Violet Bicolor’ (Ball FloraPlant)
Best of Show Plants
- Most Drought-Tolerant Annual – Portulaca ‘24/7 Orang (Green Fuse Botanicals)
- Most Drought-Tolerant Perennial – Gaillardia ‘Barbican Yellow with Red Ring’ (Syngenta Flowers)
- Best Heat-Tolerant Annual – Bracteantha ‘Granvia Gold’
- Best Heat Tolerant Perennial – Leucanthemum ‘Betsy’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)
- Best Pollinators Annuals
- Helianthus ‘Sunbelieveable Brown Eyed Girl’ (Danziger)
- Lantana ‘Bandolista Red Chili’ (Syngenta Flowers)
- Best Overall performance Annual – Begonia ‘Fragrant Falls Peach’ (Beekenkamp)
- Best Overall performance Perennial – Echinacea ‘Panama Red’ (Danziger)
For full detail on the trials, visit https://is.gd/MYPtrials. Check out the slideshow above as well for a closer look.
Subscribe to eNewsletter
