FACT SHEETS > SPECIFIC CROPS > 2001 NEW ENGLAND TRIAL GARDEN EVALUATION

2001 New England Trial Garden Evaluation

New England Trial Gardens at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's Elm Bank facility continue to grow and probably had one of the best years since the inception of the gardens in 1996.

This article is a report of my personal highlights of the trials based on two formal evaluations I made on July 19 and August 22 and a visit during Field Day on July 26. Plants were rated at about the same time by three other evaluators: Nancy Chrestensen and John Peterson of MassHort and Tina Bemis of MFGA. Ratings were poor, fair, good, very good or excellent based on overall plant performance. A complete compilation of team ratings will be made available later this fall by MassHort (617)933-4900.

This year's garden showcased the many types of petunias currently available and had a great comparison of the many vegetative verbenas in July. The geranium trials were the best yet! The only disappointment was that Ecke Flower Fields skipped the trials this year. Their absence hurt the trials of New Guinea impatiens and the vegetatively-propagated annuals. Hopefully they'll be back next year!

Petunias

Petunias and "petunia-like" plants continue to be one of the most active groups in terms of new types and introductions. On the whole petunias did very well in our trials as they have in the past, but also, as in past trials, peak flowering and plant quality occurred in July and many petunias were past peak by August. Petunia highlights included two new double-flowered vegetative series: 'Double Waves' (Ball FloraPlant) and 'Double Supertunias' (Proven Winners). White, pink, rose, lavender, purple, and misty lilac are available in the 'Double Wave' series and pink, pink-veined, dark blue, and purple in 'Double Supertunias.' In my opinion the doubling was greater in the 'Double Supertunia.' Overall I rated the new doubles "very good" or "excellent" with the higher rating coming in July. Other new petunias in the trials included the 'Suncatcher' series (Ball FloraPlant), new Supertunias 'Blushing Princess' and 'Royal Magenta' (Proven Winners) and 'Tidal Wave Silver,' a hedgiflora type from Ball Seed (AAS Winner).

A new "petunia-like" plant appearing in the trials this year was Nolana 'Nautica' in light blue and dark blue from Ball FloraPlant. Nolana has trailing stems and would be excellent for hanging baskets or as a low-growing groundcover. Calibrachoa was represented by several 'Million Bells' (Proven Winners) and the new 'Starlette' series from Ball FloraPlant. 'Starlettes' included rose, purple, and an experimental cherry rose. I rated all Calibrachoas "very good" or "excellent" in both July and August.

Impatiens

All impatiens - garden, double, and New Guinea - were grown in beds under light saran cloth shade. In general the garden impatiens put on a dazzling display of color throughout the summer and differences among the cultivar series were undetectable to me. Color shade, plant size for intended use, and seed germination would be the likely factors to consider in choosing which series to grow. The series entered in the trials were 'Impact' and 'Infinity' (Sakata), 'Cajun' and 'Impulse' (S&G), 'Carnival' (Daehnfeldt), 'Dazzler' and 'Showstopper' (Ball Seed), and 'Stardust' and 'Super Elfin' (Pan American Seed). I gave a rating of "excellent" to nearly all cultivars on both evaluation dates.

The double impatiens and New Guinea impatiens had a tough time in this year's trial. Both types grew into magnificent plants, but flowering, particularly in July, was substandard. The flowering of the double impatiens, but not the New Guineas, was much better in August. At Field Day Bob Luczai speculated that the plants were overfertilized and this probably favored vegetative growth at the expense of flowers.

Double impatiens were represented by the 'Fiesta' series from Ball FloraPlant, several colors of 'Fanciful' (Ball Seed), and 'Circus' orange white (PanAmerican). Based mainly on the number of flowers present in August I rated 'Fiestas' Ole Frost, White, and Pink Ruffle "excellent" and most of the rest "very good." My favorite cultivar was 'Fiesta Appleblossom' with its large pink rose-like flowers.

New Guinea impatiens were represented by the series 'Celebration,' 'Celebrette,' and 'Fanfare' trailing impatiens from Ball FloraPlant and 'Harmony,' 'Sonic,' and 'Supersonic' from Fisher. In my opinion, because of the limited flowering, there was little to distinguish any series or cultivar and I gave a "good" to most. The 'Fanfare' trailing impatiens are a new product and compared to New Guinea impatiens they grow much larger with many more flowers. The foliage shape is similar to New Guineas, but the flowers are smaller. Available flower colors are fuchsia, lavender, and light lavender. Based on flowering I gave the 'Fanfares' an "excellent" rating.

Begonias

This year 30 begonia cultivars were submitted to the trials and they were grown in full sun in the gardens. As in past years' trials all of the begonias did very well producing large plants and a great show of flowers throughout the summer. The new entries were 'Pink Dragon Wing' (PanAmerican Seed) and several colors of the 'Olympia Sprint' series (Benary). The Sprints are supposed to be about two weeks earlier than 'Super Olympias,' but the earliness was not apparent when I evaluated the plants. Other begonias in the trial included the 'Senator' and 'Ambassador' series (Daehnfeldt) and several colors of the 'Varsity' series (S&G).

Geraniums

Four plant companies submitted a total of 115 cultivars of vegetatively-propagated zonal geraniums to the trials this year. Since the gardens were started six years ago flowering and plant vigor of geraniums after transplanting has generally been subpar. Ongoing efforts to improve plant performance paid off this year with better results, however it is clear that the smaller, less vigorous cultivars continue to struggle after transplanting under our conditions.

I didn't rate any of the geraniums as "excellent" based on my opinion that flowering was not up to the standard intended by the breeders. Many cultivars were "very good" and presumably they would be "excellent" under better conditions. Fischer's "very good" cultivars were 'Rocky Mountain' series White, Deep Coral, and Royal Red;' 'Noblesse 99' (dark salmon); 'Twist 2001' (salmon rose); and 'Salmon 99' (salmon rose). Ball FloraPlant's 'Designer' series White, Pink Parfait, Salmon Rose, Violet, and Hot Coral; 'Fantasia' series Shocking Pink and Flaming Rose; and 'Galleria Sunrise Improved' were "very good." J.P. Bartlett's "very goods" were 'Quaker,' 'Puritan 2,' 'Amy,' 'Beth,' 'Mayflower,' 'Dot,' 'Patriot,' 'Abagail,' and 'Samaritan.' Goldsmith Plants 'Americana' series Violet and Cherry Rose and 'Eclipse Rose' rated "very good."

Many other cultivars from all sources rated "good" and these were generally characterized by uniform plants, but borderline acceptable numbers of flower clusters open at evaluation time. I rated seventy-nine of 115 cultivars as "good" or "very good" this year - a big improvement over previous trials. Consult the final report from MassHort for the composite scores of all four evaluators and complete ratings of geraniums.

Verbena

An excellent display of new and recent introductions of vegetatively-propagated verbena could be seen in the trials this year. The verbena entries were: 'Aztec' and 'Wildfire' series from Ball FloraPlant; 'Babylon,' 'Temari,' 'Tapien,' and 'Tukana' series from Proven Winners; and the new 'Lanai' and 'Rapunzel' series from Goldsmith Plants. Also, Ball Seed entered its new 'Crystal Ball Mix.' All of the verbenas filled out their plots nicely with a dense carpet of foliage and flowering was best in July. In July I rated most of the verbenas "very good" or "excellent." A few cultivars rated lower due to disease, an inexplicable lack of flowering, or some cultural malady but these problems were not consistent with series. Unfortunately "staying power" was not a characteristic of verbena this year. By August the flowering stopped, or at least took an extended break, as there were either no flowers or very minimal numbers of flowers on all plants.

In my opinion the best verbenas, based on flowering and plant quality in July, were: Ball FloraPlant's 'Aztec Pink Magic;' several of Proven Winners' 'Babylon' series (silver, pink, light blue, blue, and blue carpet), 'Tukana Salmon,' 'Temari Salmon,' and 'Tapien Blue-violet;' and Goldsmith Plant's 'Lanai' Rose and Hot Pink.

Other Plants

In other years annual vinca has been very slow to start flowering; very little flowering occurred by mid-July and the best show was in August. This year the vinca entries were planted in a bed along the concrete and white-washed foundation of a greenhouse. In this location they got full sun with strong reflected light and heat and the plants responded with excellent flowering in July and flowering was still going strong in late August. The entries in the trials included the new 'First Kiss' series from Benary, 'Victory' red and formula mix (Sakata), 'Merlot' and 'Tutti Fruiti' mixtures (Ball Seed), and the new 'Apricot Cooler Improved' and 'Red Cooler' (Pan American). To me there was little to distinguish the entries except flower color and shades - all performed very well.

'Angelmist' angelonia from Ball FloraPlant was one of Elm Bank's stars for the second year in a row. The full range of available colors was submitted: white improved, light pink, lavender pink, lavender improved, purple improved, purple stripe, and deep plum. The plants had excellent "staying power" and I rated them all very highly on both evaluation dates. The upright form of the plants, high quality foliage, and the small, orchid-like flowers arranged in "spikes" gives this plant the look of a "perennial. Angelonia would be good for containers and could also be used as an annual supplement to a perennial borders.

The performance of dianthus in the trials has historically been hampered by disease and this year was no different. Sakata entered all but one of the 10 cultivars in the trial and out of these 'Melody Pink' (2000 AAS Winner), 'Melody Blush Pink,' 'Melody' formula mix,' and 'Diamond' formula mix were the best and least affected by disease. Others including 'Kawara' Pink, Rose pink, and White; 'Melody White;' and 'Carpet Rose' (American Takii) were more affected by disease but the survivors showed a great deal of promise in terms of flowering and plant habit.

Of particular interest to me was the appearance of three vegetatively-propagated creeping zinnias (Sanvitalia speciosa) in the trials. This plant is no threat to impatiens, petunias, etc., but it makes a nice addition to hanging baskets and other containers with its many very small sunflower-like flowers. It can also be used in the foreground of an annual bed or as an annual groundcover. Proven Winners entered 'Sunbini,' Benary 'Aztec Gold,' and Ball FloraPlant 'Little Sun.' All three bloomed profusely, but the 'Sunbini' plot suffered a little disease in August. I like Creeping Zinnia, but I don't try to grow it in my garden anymore because just as fast as the flowers open the local rabbits make a midnight snack of them!

A new Bacopa series from Ball FloraPlant called 'Abunda' with white and lavender cultivars joined several 'Suteras' (Proven Winners) in the trials. The Bacopas were excellent in July but had lost some of their "staying power" by August.

A number of miscellaneous plants represented by only a few entries were outstanding this year. I gave high ratings to S&G's ageratum 'Fields' blue and purple and their ornamental pepper 'Explosive' series and PanAmerican Seeds' 'Chilly Chili' (2002 AAS Winner) ornamental pepper. Also, American Takii's 'Dreamland Scarlet' zinnia, Daehnfeldt's 'Garden Bride' gypsophila, Proven Winners' Scaveola 'New Wonder,' and D.S. Cole's 'Lemon Twist' plectranthus and 'Galaxy Mars' penta performed very well.

Some miscellaneous plants were exceptional in July but lost much of their "staying power" by August. These included most of the bracteanthas in the 'Sundaze' series (Proven Winners) and the 'Dreamtime' series (Ball FloraPlant), 'Periwinkle Blue' lobelia (Ball FloraPlant), Proven Winners' argyranthemums, and the 'Symphony' osteospermum series (Proven Winners). However, the 'Symphony' osteospermums are much better for summer flowering than cultivars available several years ago.

Douglas Cox
Plant and Soil Sciences
University of Massachusetts
Amherst