Dec 15, 2014

What a Show! By Tim Hodson

I’m back from my trip to the University of Florida’s poinsettia trials field day last week in Gainesville.

It’s always nice to escape Chicago’s “winter” weather and see what things are like in the Southeast this time of year. However, the temperatures in northern Florida were almost the same as ours in the Midwest. We are in the 50s, while the mercury only reached the low 60s during my time in Florida.

Last Tuesday, Dr. Jim Barrett, GPN’s consulting editor, hosted a record crowd of growers, retailers, breeders, brokers and academics from across the country and filled them in on how the latest new introductions performed in the university’s greenhouses along with the performance of previous poinsettia introductions. Between the trial plants and the crop grown by the university’s student horticulture club, there were more than 5,000 poinsettia plants on display. And they looked awesome!

This was also the first time the field trials open house incorporated an educational element as Dr. Paul Fisher and Dr. Lance Osborne spoke on greenhouse production technology and pest management.

Dr. Barrett said that despite some initial production challenges he was pleased with the overall performance of this year’s crop. He said scheduling nearly 130 different poinsettia varieties can be a real juggling act, but the greenhouse team was up to the task.

One of the varieties that really got some attention was ‘Autumn Leaves’ (pictured) from Ecke/Dümmen. We were first introduced to this new and unique variety in April during California Spring Trials. The name really complements the peach-colored bracts on this early performer, making it a great selection if you are looking for a way to extend your fall sales. Its compact habit really makes it suitable for fall containers.

The University of Florida trials are part of the North American Poinsettia Trials done in conjunction with North Carolina State University and Homewood Nursery in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Vineland, Ontario, Canada. As I mentioned last week, Dr. Barrett and his colleagues in Raleigh and Ontario will be reporting on the results of the 2014 North American Poinsettia Trials in the February issue of GPN.

I posted a few photos from the University of Florida’s poinsettia trials on the GPN Facebook page; be sure to check them out.

Time to Nominate

Have you submitted your nominations for the Class of 2015 of GPN’s 40 Under 40?

If you haven’t, then what are you waiting for? If you know someone under the age of 40 (as of Jan. 31, 2015) that is really making a difference in our industry then you should nominate him or her.

Just go to the nomination page on www.gpnmag.com and let us know why you think they should be included in the Class of 2015.

– Tim