Jul 28, 2015

Late-Season Thrivers & Survivors By Jasmina Dolce

Wow, it’s kind of hard to believe it is full on summer right now. Mother Nature wasn’t exactly cooperating (at least not here in Chicago) for the first couple weeks of summer, but thankfully my garden is thriving! I attribute that to the massive rainfall we got hit with back in June.

Now that the heat of summer is at or near its highest, plant trials are taking place all around the country and we’ll be able to find out which varieties stand up to the high temperatures.

Each spring the Costa Farms research and development team trials hundreds of varieties of annuals, perennials and tropical plants. The team bases its assessments on a variety of factors, including the abundance of bloom, crop uniformity, pest/disease tolerance and overall performance. All varieties are trialed in the Costa Farms Premier Trial Garden in Miami. Earlier this month, Costa Farms announced its late-season top performers.

Here is a handful of our favorites. To view the full report, click here.

Impatiens ‘SunPatiens Clear Orange’ (Sakata)

Salvia ‘Grandstand Red’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)

Hibiscus ‘Little Zin’ (Ball FloraPlant)

Gerbera ‘Garvinea Sweet Heart’ (Florist Holland)

Begonia ‘Big Pink Green Leaf’ (Benary)

Lobularia ‘Yolo Lavender’ (Dümmen Orange)

Which varieties have you seen the most success with this late into the season? Are you visiting any plant trials this summer? Do you conduct trials of your own? Shoot me an email, and let me know! I’d love to hear from you.

– Jasmina