University of Wisconsin Trial Gardens Welcome Plants, People, and Pollinators
December 13, 2022 Note: Information for this trials report was provided by Janet Hedtcke, Superintendent of the University of Wisconsin’s West Madison Ag Research Station.
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In 2022, the West Madison Agricultural Research Station display garden was a welcoming and rewarding place that provided a cheerful, therapeutic environment for thousands of people. Not only human visitors, but innumerable butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, swallows, songbirds, and other pollinators were also present.
In our display garden, various peak bloom periods occur over the season: Rhododendron, azalea, and peonies first, followed by daylilies, hydrangeas, and phlox, and Echinacea and butterfly bush late season.
The growing season received average heat and precipitation, with breezy conditions up until August when it became very still and humid with warm nighttime temperatures that persisted all month (62°F average low). Growing degree days were right in line with the 30-year average. Rainfall was also about average all season.
This year, hundreds of plant varieties of annual bedding plants were evaluated for industry and backyard growers. Many cultivars were on display for the Commercial Growers of Wisconsin (private greenhouse owners) including petunia, calibrachoa, and salvia. Notable cultivars from each of those genus are shown in Table 1 in the slideshow. This year, using a paired T-test design, 40 petunia and 40 calibrachoa cultivars were compared with mycorrhizae vs. without mycorrhizae (added to the potting media during greenhouse cultivation). Though we found the petunia benefited from the mycorrhizae, the calibrachoa trials were inconclusive due to their struggle to uptake iron in the alkaline soils that exist at this site (pH ~7.3). Though chlorosis limited the calibrachoa performance, some cultivars did surprisingly well in the beds.
Annual flowers that excelled were several petunia, begonia, lantana, and zinnia cultivars with vibrant blooms all summer. A few noteworthy cultivars are shown in Table 2 in the slideshow.
Another 35 cultivars of the Darwin Perennials collection, are under evaluation for winter survival (three winters), performance, and genetic resistance to weather and insect and disease pests, to aid horticultural companies on marketing decisions. Outstanding cultivars include ‘Pink’ Buddleia davidii (i.e. butterfly bush), Carnival ‘Cinnamon Stick’ heuchera, and ‘Prelude Purple’.
As always, our fruit and vegetable crops are popular with the public. Tomato and pepper cultivars were highlighted this year and each variety had unique, excellent flavor. One favorite was the ‘Sun Dipper’ delicious snacking tomato by PanAmerican Seed that was orange, sweet and juicy. As we entered the fall season, ‘Trailblazer’ a sweet pepper (also from PanAmerican Seed) became ripe with large, firm, yellow peppers that were tasty.
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