Page 10 - Griffin Gazette Issue 1 - 2018
P. 10
for Retail
Must-Have Varieties
for Can’t-Miss Fall Programs
Spring shipping is surely top of mind now, but
summer will be here soon! Keep your momentum up New Annuals for a More Fabulous Fall
with a winning program for fall sales. Don’t set your
summer production plans before checking out these By Jeanne Svob, Seed Business Manager
top picks from our plant experts. You may still be in the throes of spring production and shipping, but you
also need to plan your fall program. Here are a few new annuals you’ll
want to consider in seed or plugs.
No fall program is complete without pansies and violas. This year, we’ve
got two all-new series to make fall sales more fabulous – and make
production more efficient.
Pansy Speedy Delta is a nearly day-neutral sister series to Delta
Premium. While Speedy Delta’s nearly day-neutral flowering makes it
an ideal choice for early spring sales in the Northeast, Northwest and
Delta Speedy California, it also benefits southern growers by extending the color
Frost pansy
performance in landscapes well into the winter months. The Speedy Delta
debuts with eight colors and a mix.
Viola Deltini is a nearly day-neutral viola that offers the same benefits
as Speedy Delta for early spring sales in more temperate regions as well
as extended fall/winter color in Southern landscapes. Since it’s a viola,
Deltini also shows better cold tolerance and is more winter-hardy. Those
traits make it an ideal season extender into Zone 5, where it’ll give you the
earliest spring color as well extending fall color until the ground freezes.
Deltini is efficient to produce with reliably fast crop times and a four-day
Snaptini Peach Deltini Rose bloom window across all 13 colors, even under short-day conditions.
snapdragon Pink viola
Also new in the viola category are three new mixes of ColorMax viola.
ColorMax offers excellent weather tolerance and very free-flowering plants
with larger flowers than typical violas. Citrus Mix is a bright combination
of Clear Orange, Clear Yellow and Popcorn. Lemonberry Pie Mix is a
beautiful blend of Berry Pie, Icy Blue and Lemon Splash. Royal Mix features
contrasting colors of Clear Purple, Clear Yellow and Yellow Jump Up.
We’ve got two new colors in Cool Wave pansy, too. Cool Wave produces
full, mounding/trailing plants perfect for baskets, bowls and landscape
Deltini Purple beds. Cool Wave Fire shows more yellow in face during summer/autumn
Gold Center viola
production (warm-season) and more red in face during winter/spring
production (cool-season). Cool Wave Lemon is new, replacing Lemon
Surprise. No surprises here: Lemon features clear, buttery yellow blooms
showing some genetic dark and light shading.
How about a new dwarf snapdragon? The new Snaptini snapdragon
series is highly programmable, offering early and uniform flowering across
all seasons. Reduced photoperiod sensitivity offers consistent crop timing
for fall and spring sales. A tight flowering window makes Snaptini perfect
Delta Speedy for bench-run finishing in packs and small pots. The series includes nine
Deep Blue w/ Snaptini White colors to start, plus a mix. This dwarf is no slouch: A strong central leader
Blotch pansy snapdragon
combined with sturdy branching creates an easy-to-ship plant with a
classic snapdragon look at retail.
Snaptini And now for something completely different: Pink Zebra ornamental
Mix corn offers dramatic color and texture for late-season mixed planters
and gardens. Pink Zebra is a dwarf variegated variety featuring green/
white striped foliage that adds showy purples, reds and pinks in cool
nights with long days. Each stalk produces many small ears with
purple kernels and tassels. It’s an ideal and unexpected accent in fall
mixed containers!