CSU's Top-Performing Perennials, Hostas of the Year & a Glimpse Into the Future

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News and commentary for the perennial market GrowerTalks MagazineGreen Profit Magazine

Monday, January 29, 2024

Paul Pilon Subscribe
 
Perennial Pulse
COMING UP THIS WEEK:

Hostas of the Year
And the Nominees Are ...
2023 Top Performers
A Glimpse Into the Future
Gearing Up for Spring '24

 


Hostas of the Year

I shared several Plants of the Year in the last newsletter and thought I’d pass along a couple Hosta-of-the-Year selections.

 
Mini Skirt
 
 
The first hosta I’d like to share is the American Hosta Growers Association’s (AHGA) 2024 Hosta of the Year selection, Mini Skirt. The AHGA has been selecting and promoting a different Hosta of the Year since 1996.
 
Mini Skirt is a miniature hosta, forming petite 5-in. mounds of variegated blue-green leaves with creamy yellow margins. Pale lavender flowers with deeper purple stripes develop on short proportionately sized scapes in early to mid-summer. Hardy to Zone 3.
 
 
Hudson Bay
 
 
As a division of its National Plant of the Year program, Proven Winners selects and promotes a Hosta of the Year each year. The 2024 selection is Shadowland Hudson Bay. This sport of Eskimo Pie is a very showy and large selection growing 24-in. high and across. The beautiful variegated apple-green leaves with bright blue margins and creamy white centers. It produces near white flowers on white scapes in the early summer. Hardy to Zone 3.

And the Nominees Are ...

That’s where you come in. Nominees for the 2024 GrowerTalks/Ball Horticultural Company Young Grower and Green Profit/The Garden Center Group Young Retailer Awards are now being accepted.

 
 
 
If you know a young grower or retailer who's very hardworking, passionate, creative, innovative and/or offers great leadership, consider nominating this person (or even yourself) for the 19th annual Young Grower or 18th annual Young Retailer Awards.
 
The applicants for each of these awesome awards must be under 35 years old as of July 16, 2024 and reside in the U.S. or Canada. The editors of Ball Publishing will select three finalists for each award. The finalist will each get to write guest editorials for the June 2024 issues of GrowerTalks (Young Grower) or Green Profit (Young Retailer), attend Cultivate’24 as a guest of sponsor AmericanHort, and attend a special dinner alongside Ball Publishing’s editors and some industry notables, including Anna Ball.
 
The winners for each of these awards will be announced at AmericanHort’s Unplugged during Cultivate. Each winner gets a cover story in the September issue of these prospective magazines. Additionally, the winners will get to help select the 2025 finalists.
 
The deadline to submit your nominations is March 1, 2024. To submit a nomination for the Young Grower Award, go HERE. To submit one for the Young Retailer Award, go HERE
 
Thanks to all the sponsors (AmericanHort, Ball Horticultural Company, BASF and The Garden Center Group) for making these awards possible! 

2023's Top Performers

Colorado State University recently announced the Top Performers for 2023 from their perennial trial garden. These perennials have performed well for the past three growing seasons, including two winters. 

 

Brunnera Alexandria (Terra Nova Nurseries)

Echinacea SunMagic Vintage Fuchsia (Flamingo Holland/Bull Breeding)

Eupatorium Little-Pye (Dümmen Orange)

Heuchera Big Top Caramel Apple (Darwin Perennials)

Lupinus x Beefeater (Gulley Greenhouse & Eason Horticulture Resources)

Sedum Rock 'N Grow Back in Black (Proven Winners & Walters Gardens)

 

Phlox paniculata Ka-Pow Soft Pink (Darwin Perennials)

 
 
I don’t know about you, but several of these top performers stand out to me. I’m looking forward to trying some of these myself.

A Glimpse Into the Future

I reached out to Dr. Chad Miller, Assistant Professor and CSU Trial Gardens Director, to see if he noticed any promising perennials that haven't been in the trials for the full three years. He shared three perennials they planted in the trials last spring (2023). 

Bouteloua gracilis Honeycomb 
 
 
Honeycomb from Intrinsic Perennials was extremely vigorous and filled out very well for the first year. The inflorescences really "light up" in the early morning and late afternoon with sunrise and sunset. Dr. Miller described it as “a sea of blooms."
 
Rudbeckia Minibeckia Flame
 
 
This eye-catching introduction from Garden Choice has long-lasting, uniquely colored flowers. The robust yellow inflorescences with the dark centered eyes mature into a coppery orange color, providing an interesting color pattern. They flower all season long and reach a tidy 24-in. tall while blooming.
 
Alstroemeria Colorita Series 
 
 
Van Zanten Breeding B.V. submitted 13 varieties of alstroemeria for CSU to trial. Most of them performed quite well. The higher-scoring entries were Amina (shown above), Claire, Elaine, Fabiana and Lisa. The flower colors were intense, bright and they provided color well into the middle of the summer. A couple selections have variegated foliage, which caught the eyes of many. 
 
Keep in mind these plants were only in the trial for one growing season and have not gone through any winters. It'll be interesting to see if these plants stand the test of time and reach the Top Performer status in future years.
 
Thank you, Dr. Miller, for giving us a sneak peak at the perennial trials.

Gearing Up for Spring '24

I don’t know about where you work, but things are picking up quite a bit and potting is already underway here at Opel Growers. With the spring season gearing up, I thought I’d mention AmercanHort’s upcoming webinar on this very topic.

 
This webinar, called "Gearing Up for Spring ‘24," is geared towards both new and seasoned nursery professionals looking to gain a better understanding of best management practices for nursery operations. The industry experts will cover many relevant topics, including diseases, irrigation, pesticides and safety in the workplace in this Back2Basics session. This information will help prepare you for the upcoming season.
 
It's being held on Friday, February 9, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Eastern. The panel members are: Dr. Janna Beckerman (Purdue University); Zach Bruce (Hortica Safety Services); Chris Fifo (Darwin Perennials/Kieft Seed); and Lynn Griffith (Tropical Plant and Soil Consultant).  
 
It's free for AmericanHort members and $99 for non-members. Go HERE to register. 

Thanks for reading this edition of Perennial Pulse. My email is paul@opelgrowers.com if you have any comments, article suggestions or if you'd just like to say hello.

Best regards,

 

Paul Pilon
Editor-at-Large—Perennial Pulse
Director of Growing—Opel Growers

 


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