Ball FloraPlant
I must admit I was a bit scared about this stop. After the banner year BFP had last year with the introduction of three Black Petunias, I was worried that there would be a bit of a let down.... Silly me, this stop was full of new introductions that look very cool.
Angelonia Archangel Series- This new 4 color series is a replacement for the old Angelmist Compact series. The main upgrade is a much larger flower on each variety. The taller Angelmist varieties (16-18" height) are still around. What makes this Archangel series interesting is that it has the large flower size of the PW Angelface series, but whats it so much improved compared to the Angelface is that its buds spacing on the flower spike is much tighter, creating a glowing spike of color.
Still use the tall Angelmist varieties for your height elements in containers and the Serena for your 6-packs, but the Archangel are the best out there for your 4.5" production.
Coleus Wasabi- From the same breeding line of Henna and Red Head, this new full sun landscape coleus is a perfect match to the other coleus in this line as far as habit and versatility. This 18-24" tall lemon/lime coleus can be grown in 4.5" pots or be used in large containers, and has been bred to minimize flowering.
Fantasia Dark Red Geranium- This is an excellent addition to the Fantasia line of dark leafed zonals. In a flat geranium market the dark leaf series continue to have growth every year for BFP. The Fantasia Cardinal Red is the #2 varieties for BFP behind #1 Designer Dark Red. We are told that this variety has a similar color to the Dark Red Calliope, but without a sample plant to compare, I can't say for sure. From my first take, it is the darkest red in the BFP zonal catalog, but a shade or too lighter than the Calliope and new Cumbia Dark Red from Dummen.
Where this has a place is that I continue to get grower comments that the vigor of the Calliope is a hard to control for 4.5" production. The whole Fantasia series is the most vigorous of the different dark leafed series available but it is still more compact than most green leafed series, which makes it perfect for 4.5" and 10" baskets.
Fantasia Raspberry Twist Geranium- Raspberry Twist has the same flower pattern of the popular Designer Peppermint Twist, but this variety has dark green foliage and a hot pink variegated petal.
Ivy Geranium Precision Series- Unfortunately Ivies continue to decrease each year, I attribute this to the rise of the interspecfic geraniums and just so many other options for the consumer to purchase. This series is new breeding along with the top varieties selected from the Selecta Royal series and BFP Colorcade series. If you wanted to carry a small collection of the colors from the series, I would go with the Blue, Pink, Ruby & Red Ice, that would cover most of the needed colors. This series was bred under high oedema pressures, so it is not oedema resistant, but is one of the most tolerant series out there.
Osteospermum Serenity Magic Rose- I wish Osteos were bigger in our market, they always look so amazing at the California trials. New Rose Magic is early to flower, but standard heat tolerance. Still Voltage Yellow remains as the only osteo that will flower through the entire Michigan summer. Hopefully they will add more colors for the Voltage series someday. I also found three colors in the Serenity series that have identical habit and flowering so if you wanted to do a mix 3ppp -8" mum pot: Lemonade, Pink & White.
Voltage Yellow looking amazing again!
Petunia Pink Lemonade- This variety looked great, and I was very impressed. When I saw an early photo of Pink Lemonade I was a bit skeptical of this bi-color, but what I saw was that the marketing photos are not a good representation of what makes this variety special. You will see in a catalog a picture of a petunia with a yellow color and a pink picotee. This pink picotee was fainter than in the picture, but the yellow was even more impressive.
What is exciting is the mounded/trailing habit and health vigor this plant showed. In all the mono-culture and mixed pots it just looked healthy, which is so important because yellow petunias continue to be the worst performer of any petunia series. BFP said this variety has been an excellent rooter in all of the trials too.
This is one of the top varieties I am excited to grow this summer and view at local trials to see how it performs.
