Where Did the Growing Season Go?

Somehow, summer always seems to move faster than expected.

It feels like we were just getting ready for another season of greenhouse visits, industry events, and trial stops, and now fall is already beginning to settle in. Looking back, I spent a good portion of this growing season on the road, giving me plenty of opportunities to say hello to familiar faces — and meet some not-so-familiar plants along the way.

My travels started in March with California Spring Trials (CAST), where I joined Kristin Zeit, Group Content Lead for CEAg World and Greenhouse Grower; Allan Armitage, Greenhouse Grower Contributing Editor and industry expert; and Robin Siktberg, former Greenhouse Grower editor and current Editor of The Cut Flower Quarterly, for a road trip down the California coast from Salinas to Somis.

It was my first time experiencing California’s coastline, and the scenery alone made the miles between stops memorable. But, of course, we were there for the plants. CAST gave me an early look at what breeders and suppliers were preparing to introduce to the industry. Months later, I still found myself thinking about some of the plants I had encountered there.

Agastache ‘Honey Sticks Gold’ from Dümmen Orange caught my attention right away. My instinct was that this plant could make an impact on the perennial market. Its golden-yellow flowers offer an unusual color for the genus, but it wasn’t just the color that stood out. This compact, first-year-flowering perennial blooms early and continues until frost, is drought tolerant once established, attracts pollinators, and is hardy to Zone 4.

By June, I was back on the road for Darwin Perennials Day in West Chicago, IL. Where CAST offers a first look at what’s new and what’s coming next, outdoor trials provide an opportunity to see how those introductions actually perform in the landscape.

At Darwin, some beds brought varieties within the same genus together, making it easy to compare differences in habit, color, and overall performance side by side. With introductions spanning several seasons, from varieties introduced in 2024 to previews of what’s coming in 2027, I could also see how perennial breeding is progressing from one year to the next.

Other beds mixed different plants together. Rather than evaluating one variety against another, these combinations showed how different colors, textures, and plant habits could work together in a home garden or commercial landscape — and gave me plenty of ideas for combinations of my own.

July was an especially busy month as our team prepared for Cultivate’26 in Columbus, OH. It was also where many of the plants we had encountered during our individual travels earlier in the season came back into the conversation. Our team worked alongside other industry experts to nominate and select the varieties recognized through Greenhouse Grower’s Medal of Excellence program, which is no easy task with so many promising introductions to consider.

For me, one of those selections brought the season full circle. I kept coming back to ‘Honey Sticks Gold,’ which I ultimately selected for my Editor’s Choice. The week culminated in our Evening of Excellence, where we recognized this year’s Medal of Excellence winners and celebrated the breeders and companies behind the plants.

Just a couple of weeks later, I headed to East Lansing, MI, for the Perennial Plant Association National Symposium. While I was there, I also had the opportunity to visit several stops on the Michigan Garden Plant Tour.

The annual tour brings together leading young-plant producers and Michigan State University, giving growers and other industry professionals a chance to see new and existing varieties across different outdoor settings. After seeing plants at CAST and Darwin earlier in the year, the Michigan Garden Plant Tour added another perspective on how plants move from breeding and production into trials and the landscape.

Across the different stops, I saw plants growing under a range of conditions and featured in creative displays, both in the ground and in containers.

Looking back on all those miles, the conversations were just as valuable as the plants themselves. Talking with growers, breeders, researchers, and others throughout the industry added context to what I was seeing and gave me plenty to bring back home.

And while I managed to see a lot this year, I certainly didn’t see everything.

I’ll soon begin reaching out to trial managers for Greenhouse Grower’s annual trials recap, where we gather results from sites across the country and highlight the varieties that stood out during the year.

We have a list of contacts we reach out to annually, but I know there are trials happening beyond the ones already on our radar. If you manage a university, public garden, breeder, grower, or other industry trial and haven’t received our recap request in previous years, I’d like to hear from you, too.

Send me an email at [email protected] with your trial name, location, and contact information, and I’ll make sure you’re included when this year’s requests go out.

I look forward to hearing from you, learning about the challenges you faced this growing season, and seeing which varieties performed well in your trials.

Until next time!