30 Days of California Spring Trials Coming in April
March 31, 2019 
Photo courtesy of Robin Siktberg.
The Greenhouse Grower team just returned from the 2019 California Spring Trials (CAST). Contributing Editor Allan Armitage, Custom Content Editor Robin Siktberg, and I had a wonderful trip enjoying the California coast, and more than that, visiting with industry folks and seeing first-hand the latest variety introductions.
This year seemed a little lighter on plant introductions than our team has seen in the past, as breeders focus on rounding out plant series and filling gaps in their product offerings. Despite that, breeders promise there are still plenty of exciting products in the breeding pipeline to look forward to in the future. One of the exciting developments our team saw was the first generation of Impatiens walleriana with a high degree of resistance to downy mildew. You’ll want to watch for the Imara XDR impatiens from Syngenta flowers and the Beacon impatiens from PanAmerican Seed.
Speaking of items for the shade, impatiens weren’t the only great shade item we saw along the CAST trail. Several new plant introductions to brighten up shady areas will soon be entering the market, if what we saw was any indication. And there’s oodles of more new plant news to share with you that came out of trials.
With that in mind, April 1 starts Greenhouse Grower’s 30 days of California Spring Trials. We felt it was unfair to cram all the news into a few days during the trials, especially at such a busy time of year for growers, so we’re spreading the coverage out over the month of April.
Check the “Variety Trials” section under the “Varieties” tab on GreenhouseGrower.com each day in April for new content that shares the plants and news from CAST 2019 through slideshows, articles, videos, photos, and more. We’ll also share CAST news in our Variety Sends that come out each Friday.
It may be April Fool’s Day, but don’t be fooled by our promise. You’ll see something new every day in April about California Spring Trials 2019. It’s our month-long celebration of new plants.
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