Oct 26, 2015

Prairie Star Performance By Jasmina Dolce

This may be my favorite time of the year. Aside from taking long walks through the beautiful fall foliage surrounding my home right now, I love reading about all the plant trials that have recently come to a close and learning about how all the new varieties performed.

A few weeks ago, I reported on some of the outstanding trial performers at Colorado State University. And today, I’d like to head about 500 miles east to Kansas State University, home of the Prairie Star program.

At K-State, flowers are tested annually and are added to the Prairie Star list if they exhibit superior performance for two or more years in the university’s bedding plant research trials. Theses are varieties that are best adapted to the challenging prairie climate, varieties that grow and bloom abundantly with minimal care.

If you’d like to see the full list of Prairie Star flowers, click here.

Here are some of the newest additions for 2015.

Zinnia ‘Zahara Sunburst’ (PanAmerican Seed)

Zahara is an exceptional performer in heat and drought. It is bred to offer larger flowers than other disease-resistant competing varieties.

Coleus ‘Under the Sea King Crab’ (Hort Couture)

Part of one of the most unique coleus collections on the market, King Crab offers huge red leaves with tiny subsets of leaves that resemble “pinchers.” It can be an upright, mounding thriller in mixed containers or the landscape.

Salvia ‘Summer Jewel Red’ (American Takii)

Already an established award winner (All-America Selections/Fleuroselect), ‘Summer Jewel Red’ is exceptionally floriferous and attracts hummingbirds with its long-lasting blooms.

Lantana ‘Little Lucky Red’ (Ball FloraPlant)

The Little Lucky series is great for bench runs and pot-tight production. It is low maintenance and exhibits long flowering into summer. In addition to Red, Pot of Gold and Hot Pink were also added to the Prairie Star list this year.

Petunia ‘Supertunia Flamingo’ (Proven Winners)

This continuous bloomer is vigorous with a slightly mounded habit that will function both in containers and in the landscape.

Are you growing any of the above varieties? How have they performed for you? If you’re in the Prairie region, which varieties would you add to the list? Shoot me an email, and let me know!

– Jasmina