MORE New FLOWERS for 2015

Part of the reason I love the greenhouse business is that I have an opportunity to try out new varieties and then share them with my customers.  Some of my customers just want geraniums and marigolds, and that's fine.  Others are ready to try just about anything.

There's a new yellow, short (8") cosmos,  "Limara Lemon," which may be a good alternative for folks who want yellow in their containers or gardens, but don't like marigolds.

Cosmos Limara Lemon - Photo from Benary Seeds

On the other hand, if the gardener wants to try some unusual marigolds,   I like the photos of "Bambino" and "Alum Vanilla Cream" and will be growing them for sale.

BAMBINO

ALUM VANILLA CREAM

I think of red salvia as "the poor man's geranium," because you can buy a six-pack at a good price and get that splash of red that many are looking for.  This year, besides the salvias in 6-packs, I am  trying a new salvia grown from cuttings.  "Saucy Red Salvia" is a sterile hybrid, and the hype promises a super-strong and flashy salvia.  Here in Vermont our winters seem so long and the summers so short, gardeners appreciate bright, bold colors.

SAUCY RED SALVIA

NEW PLANTS for 2015 - Crazy Petunias

Here we go again.  There may be four feet of snow on some of the barn roof, but the seeds and rooted cuttings are ordered.  (Yet ...  it's not too late to make requests.)

I will start this year's blog with pictures of some unusual vegetatively grown petunias now offered. The advantage of root-grown petunias over petunias grown from seeds generally is that they are more vigorous and they never need dead heading.  Some of the new seed varieties, like the 'Tidal Wave' series, or the 'Opera' series, are challenging the rooted cuttings.

                                   

                                                                    Crazytunia Pulse


The disadvantage is that these rooted cuttings are patented and we growers pay a lot for not just the cuttings, but the royalties and the tags we are required to buy to go with the plants.  Of course this is seen in the eventual cost for customers.

In recent years a company in Germany, Westhoff, started pushing the possibilities of vegetatively grown petunias with their "Crazytunia" series.  I will be growing the four new varieties shown in this posting.

Crazytunia Red Blue

Crazytunia  Star Jubilee

Crazytunia Mandeville