CNGA LooseLeaf Aug/Sept 2019

13 Another trend that he saw is more begonia varieties, including those that are ever blooming and seem to do well in both sun and shade. Benary has had outstanding begonias for a couple years, but they have done even more breeding recently. Klett thinks more and more of their plants will be used in Colorado landscapes. The BIG ® series including BIG ® Red Bronze Leaf is expected to do very well. GreenFuse has the new Begonia Rex Bewitched Series, which is all very interesting. Gerace described the Rex foliage as what people like about them, “The leaves are big and intricate. They look like dinosaur skin, or what we would imagine dinosaur skin to look like in texture and shade, so they are named after a T-Rex. It’s an interesting new variety that we can trial out here in Colorado and see how they do.” Gerace sees a great future for the Osteospermum 4D Harvest Moon, an introduction in the 4D series from Selecta. While traditional osteopermum (African daisies) close at night, hiding the attractive petals with eyes at the center, the 4D series doesn’t close and has tiny petals in the center. Harvest Moon has an orange, coppery center and is a little bit lighter on the outside. “Some people don’t like the osteospermum because the flowers close at night and so are not as interesting when the sun is going down or in the early morning. The 4D series makes them kinda cool, kinda fun,” she said. Another notable daisy is the Leucanthemum Betsy from GreenFuse, which is a Shasta daisy with a really big flower and nice habit. Begonias & Daisies 2 LooseLeaf  Aug/Sept 2019 colorad o nga.org continues on next page » The Welby team is super excited about some of the petunias like those from Danziger. The Amore series, that has a heart-shaped pattern on each flower, has been broadened. Now, the series includes the red and white Amore King of Hearts and Amore Pink with hot pink and white flowers. “Amore really seems to perform well. We are excited to get some of these varieties in our trials to see how they do in Colorado,” she said. “From Dümmen Orange, we really like Durabloom Royal Pink. It’s really tough, sturdy and strong with nice big flowers with nice dark veins.” Klett pointed out that companies seem to be competing more for the petunia market, to challenge Proven Winners dominance there. In particular, that grower’s Supertunia Vista ® Bubblegum petunias have been very popular. Another trend he noticed at the trials was more varieties of dahlia. Some are dwarfs and can be used in small spaces, while others are very tall with many flowers, providing large heights and cuttings from just one plant. “Syngenta has one called Dahlia Sincerity that I was totally impressed and blown away with in California. We got some for our trials this year. I’m anxious to see how they will perform,” he said. Other memorable plants from this spring’s trials include Pericallis Senetti ® White from Suntory. Gerace was impressed with its nice, clean white color, and thinks it will be a good cool weather plant for early spring as well as an attention-grabbing indoor pot plant. Digitalis ‘Pink Panther’ from Takii is also really pretty. The large number of lantanas was apparent. Klett noticed a trend away from the mixed colors to new single colors like solid yellow or red that are exciting. “Another thing I see happening is with the annual called lobelia. Past breeding has produced plants that decline in the midsummer heat of Colorado, so now they’ve been breeding more heat-tolerant plants that will still look good in September, which is very unusual for lobelia,” he said. Petunias & Dahlias Senatti®, Digitalis, Lantana, & Lobelia 3 4