Top Performers From Welby Gardens’ 2020 Variety Field Trials
It was only last December when the team at Welby Gardens began planning for an ambitious 2020 trial season. Of the 11 different breeding companies sending us materials, seven of them asked us to root liners for Colorado State University (CSU), in addition to growing plants for our own trials. It is the largest number of vegetative items – more 600 varieties — that we have ever committed to starting for CSU.
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Internally, our focus was on new items. These 500 varieties were to be planted up into 12-inch patio pots for our August event, which is normally open to breeders, brokers, customers, employees, and family.
Just as the unrooted cuttings began to show up in early March, Colorado began to lock down. Around four weeks later, root liners were sent off to CSU and we shifted all of our liners into 4-inch pots.
Things began looking really bleak: businesses were staying closed and events around the country were being cancelled. When the size of summer gatherings was brought into question, we decided to cancel our August event, which is typically around 400 people. Our trial focus became a smaller internal evaluation. We delayed our next shift up until late June, inviting our breeders and brokers to visit and evaluate the plants. These visits were by appointment only, and followed all social distancing, masks, and safety protocols. A few companies sent representatives who, along with our key staff, voted on their top ten items.
We used these votes to narrow our focus to the best 25% of the varieties, which we shifted up to 8-inch round pots and grew to get pictures for our marketing materials for the upcoming season. It is important to us that we get to see new varieties in our climate and conditions; with the cancellation of California Spring Trials, it became even more vital that we had our own plants, and CSU’s outdoor trials, to evaluate.
There was one clear winner this year: Darwin Perennials’ Salvia greggii ‘Mirage Rose Bicolor’, with twice as many votes as the next runner up. Although it was off to the side and not front and center, it was so unique that every person walking through our trial commented on it, and half of them voted for it.
Syngenta introduced a new, very impressive, three-color series, Caldera, a dark leaf interspecific Geranium. Salmon had an incredible contrast of foliage to flower and received the most votes of the three colors.
Finally, Selecta’s Headliner and Main Stage Sky Series of spotted petunias were really stunning. ‘Headliner Night Sky’ has been our most popular item for the last few years, and we are excited to have these three new varieties available: Headliners Crystal Sky and Electric Purple Sky, and Main Stage Glacier Sky.
We are hoping that by next August, we will be able to return to an in-person event for next year’s trials. We will continue to adapt as necessary, perhaps moving to an Open House Week instead of a single large party. However it may look, it continues to be important to evaluate new varieties in house, and in other nearby trials such as CSU. There is no replacement for growing new varieties and seeing them in person. Field trials are especially important to us in selecting new items for our young plant program, as well as being able to inform our retail and landscape customers on the habit and performance of new items. Welby Gardens will continue to have new plant trials.
Check out the slideshow above for a closer look at top performers from Welby Gardens’ trials.
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