Dec 9, 2015

Standouts in Ohio By Jasmina Dolce

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been sharing outstanding performers from various trial gardens across the country. In my last newsletter, I discussed Louisiana State University’s Super Plants program and the new varieties added this year.

Today, let’s travel northeast to Ohio State University where they have taken the next step in cultivar evaluations. This is the second year they have implemented the use of a new app based on FileMaker Go, which was created by OSU’s Tim Rhodus. The app allows evaluators to pull up a map of all plant material and rate plants easily from their iPads or iPhones. Once the data has been obtained, it can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet, eliminating time-consuming data entry.

To learn more about the trial and the app, go to http://hvp.osu.edu/trials.

This year, 530 cultivars were evaluated by a total of 23 companies. Cultivars that stood out were: Westhoff’s scaevola Scalora series for its continuous steady growth and profuse flowering, and Classic Caladium’s ‘Red Glamour’ caladium, which performed well in sun and shade and showed no sign of sunburn.

Here are the overall standouts from OSU’s trial garden:

Top Performing Varieties

1. 1. Helichrysum ‘Silver Star’ (Westhoff)
2. 2. Celosia ‘Dragon’s Breath’ (Sakata)
3. 3. Begonia ‘BIG Red Green Leaf’ (Benary)
4. 4. Begonia ‘BIG Red Bronze Leaf’ (Benary)
5. 5. Coleus ‘Burgundy Wedding Train’ (Dümmen Orange/Oro)
6. 6. Caladium ‘Red Glamour’ (Classic Caladiums)
7. 7. Scaevola ‘Scalora Crystal’ (Westhoff)
8. 8. Coleus ‘Special Effects’ (Burpee)
9. 9. Lobularia ‘Sweetness Yellow’ (Westhoff)

Best in Show

1. Scaevola ‘Topaz Pink’ (Westhoff)
2. Angelonia ‘Alonia Pink Romance’ (Danziger)
3. Zinnia ‘Solmar Yellow’ (Floranova)

Consumer Favorites

1. 1. Impatiens Big Bounce series (Ball FloraPlant)
2. 2. Impatiens Bounce series (Ball FloraPlant)
3. 3. Celosia ‘Dragon’s Breath’ (Sakata)
4. 4. Zinnia ‘Double Zahara Red’ (PanAmerican Seed)
5. 5. Begonia ‘BIG Rose Bronze Leaf’ (Benary)
6. 6. Begonia ‘Elatior Solenia Red Improved’ (Dümmen Orange/Red Fox)

Helichrysum ‘Silver Star’

Celosa ‘Dragon’s Breath’

Begonia ‘BIG Red Green Leaf’

Angelonia ‘Alonia Pink Romance’

Impatiens ‘Big Bounce Lavender’

Are you growing any of these top performers? Which ones have been most successful for you? Shoot me an email at jdolce@greatamericanpublish.com, and let me know!

– Jasmina