Distribution News

At the California Spring Trials earlier this year, several new perennial varieties leapt out at me. In particular, I looked for varieties with unusual or extended bloom periods to lengthen their life on the greenhouse bench. Some didn’t require vernalization, while others had a photoperiod/daylength-neutral response that didn’t need short or long days to encourage new blooms. And of course, I paid particular attention to those hardy to USDA Zone 5. Here were my top 10. 1. Leucanthemum Betsy Betsy is a new vegetatively propagated leucanthemum. It should generate blooms constantly throughout the growing season as a result of it being daylength neutral. The flower is large, ranging from five to eight inches in diameter. The mature plant height can be approximately 20 inches. Hardy to USDA Zone 4. GreenFuse Botanicals. 2. Leucanthemum Madonna Madonna Shasta daisies will bloom from seed in the first year without a vernalization treatment. The plants produced from Madonna seed are expected to be very uniform in habit, but in any given seed lot, a small percentage of plants may produce petals with lacey edges. This cultivar is reported to show resistance to bacterial infection. Hardy to USDA Zone 3. Kieft Seed. 3. Digitalis Arctic Fox Rose Digitalis ‘Balroxose’ Arctic Fox Rose is an interspecific, sterile hybrid. No vernalization is required to initiate continuous bloom. Pinching of the terminal bud produces a very showy plant. Hardy to USDA Zone 5. Darwin Perennials. 4. Veronica Moody Blues Dark Pink Veronica hybrida ‘Balmoodink’ Moody Blues Dark Pink is a new colour for this series of compact spiked speedwell. It can reach heights of 14 inches in the garden. No vernalization is required to initiate bloom, so it will flower in its first year and continuously produce blooms in a cyclical pattern throughout the growing season until frost. Hardy to USDA Zone 4b. Darwin Perennials. 5. Achillea Firefly The Achillea Firefly series of yarrow currently has four colours: amethyst, diamond (white), peach and sunshine (yellow). It has a relatively tall, but sturdy, growth habit that ranges from 18 to 36 inches depending upon colour. It will bloom […]

Source: www.greenhousecanada.com