Annuals For Spring 2011

Annuals For Spring 2011

American Takii
Two petunias have been added to the Opera Supreme series–Light Blue and Raspberry Ice–which now contains 10 colors. Opera Supreme varieties are extremely floriferous with low, spreading habits. Flowers consistently appear from the center to the tips of the plant. In the landscape, Opera Supreme spreads 10 to 15 square feet. And one of its 10 varieties, Pink Morn, is a past All-America Selections winner.

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Ball FloraPlant
‘Aztec Blue Velvet’ is a new verbena that’s mounded and trailing. Blue Velvet is a dark green-leafed plant that is uniform across the Aztec series. It boasts excellent powdery mildew tolerance and is easier to finish with reduced chemical applications. Blue Velvet is distinguished by its fine, serrated foliage and strong, non-fading flower colors. It stays lush and healthy spring through autumn.

Danziger
‘Gulliver Blue,’ a giant-flowered sutera, is new to the Scopia series that’s designed for early spring sales. ‘Gulliver Blue’ has early, rich and continuous blooming of extra-large blue flowers. Scopia features compact, branched plants with semi-trailing growth habits, and ‘Gulliver Blue’ is an ideal choice for hanging baskets, pots and mixed containers in full sunlight or partial shade.
Twelve varieties in Danziger’s Musica series are also new for 2011, including ‘Fine Purple,’ which is a double medium-sized variety that resembles early-flowering rose petals. Its foliage is green with a relatively compact growth habit. Today, 28 varieties make up the Musica series.

Dömmen
Blackberry Vein is a striking new Potunia variety that has dark purple-to-almost black veins and a dark center. Like every Potunia in the series, Blackberry Vein grows in a round, mounding habit, branches well and is early flowering because it is a day-length neutral variety. Blackberry Vein petunia is the ninth Potunia.

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Another exciting Dömmen introduction is ‘Bidy Gonzales Big’ bidens, which gives growers a larger-flowered option than ‘Bidy Gonzales.’ ‘Bidy Gonzales Big’ sports large, golden yellow flowers with short internodes displaying flowers over foliage. It also has a compact growth habit and flowers early. ‘Bidy Gonzales Big’ is ideal as a combination plant, particularly in hanging basket production, and it performs well in landscaping situations.

Greenheart Farms
Greenheart Farms unveiled a new micro-miniature rose series this summer that was developed for use in bedding plant-type applications. Although it’s not considered an annual, the Garden Treasures series can be produced in pots as small as 2 ¼ inches and as large as 1 quart.
In all, eight varieties make up the Garden Treasures series. All varieties have a compact habit with disease resistance, and plants grow 12 inches tall and wide. Garden Treasures are heavy-branching plants, as branches come from the crown of the plant. The series is truly perennial, as it’s hardy to USDA Zones 4b to 11.

Plant Haven
Two new Mystic dahlias from Plant Haven this year are ‘Enchantment’ and ‘Haze.’ While ‘Enchantment’ features unique fire engine red blooms with elegant central dark discs, ‘Haze’ sports apricot to orange blooms with soft yellow halos and dark central discs. Both varieties sport glossy mahogany black foliage and are hardy to Zones 9 to 11. ‘Enchantment’ and ‘Haze’ will bloom early summer to fall.

Proven Winners
Punch, a subseries within the popular Superbells series, is a new type of calibrachoa from Proven Winners. Punch’s flowers have a striking punch pattern in the center, and the two new colors are Blackberry Punch and Coralberry Punch. Blackberry Punch has a rich, velvet-black throat on deep grape petals while Coralberry Punch sports a reddish-black throat on coral-red petals. Both varieties reach heights of 4 to 6 inches, spread 12 to 18 inches and prefer full sun. You’ll see the same disease resistance in these calibrachoas as you do in other Superbells varieties.

Selecta First Class
Selecta has 32 new or improved varieties for 2011. One to look for is ‘Golden Eye,’ an addition to the popular Namid bidens series. This variety has a unique bicolor flower with its golden yellow center and apricot flower petals. It has a more upright to mounding habit with large star-shaped flowers. It is great for pots and containers.

Also new for 2011 is ‘MiniFamous Double Pink Evolution,’ a calibrachoa that boasts early and rich flowering, great branching and ease of growing. It has a semi-trailing habit and true double blooms with stable fill.

Suntory Flowers
A new Suntory release is ‘Illumina Lemon Mist Improved,’ a scoparia that produces an abundance of dainty, star-shaped yellow blossoms that last through the season. Illumina is ideal in hanging baskets and window boxes. It also performs well in the landscape and will brighten up the scenery with its lemon-yellow flower and delicate lime green leaf, almost like mist.

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