Cultivar Trials of Bedding Plants

CULTIVAR TRAILS

OF BEDDING PLANTS

Test locations for the cultivar trials reported in this publication.

Continued growth of over 15 percent per year has marked the bedding plant industry since 1978. On the wholesale level, producing annuals and perennials has become a billion-dollar business nationally. The University of Minnesota supports this growing industry in Minnesota in various ways, among which are the cultivar trials conducted on Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Stations at Morris, St. Paul, and Grand Rapids.

At these sites, new and old cultivars are grown from seed donated by seed companies, planted out, and rated periodically for field performance. The gardens are open to the public and industry for self-guided tours throughout the growing season, providing a unique opportunity to compare performance of bedding plant cultivars under regional conditions.

In this publication, results from all three sites are summarized. The data reflect the growing conditions at each site during 1994 only; cultivars may have performed quite differently in previous years. For results from earlier trials, contact the site supervisor directly, or obtain earlier editions of this publication from the University of Minnesota Extension Store. Not all years may be available.

All-America Selections

Each test site is a designated All-America Selections Display Garden, joining the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum at Chanhassen in that honor. The All-America Selections organization, founded in 1932, tests new cultivars and introduces those with superior performance to the horticultural public. Winners are selected on the basis of trials in official AAS Trial Gardens and are readily available from retail seed companies. As official AAS Display Gardens, each Minnesota site grows the current year’s winners as well as past selections. Our trial grounds allow comparison between these national winners and local favorites.

Rating the Cultivars

Bedding plants are grown for the ornamental value of their foliage and flowers. In rating cultivars entered in the trials conducted by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, the two aspects of foliage and flowers are each rated independently on a 1 to 10 scale where 1= poor and 10= very good. The values are averaged to create an overall quality rating of 1 to 10. An exception is made for plants such as kale which are grown for foliage only. In those, the vegetative rating is simply recorded.

Ratings are taken several times during the growing season, typically mid-July, mid-August, and mid-September. The objective is to assess quality over the growing season, so the actual dates vary per site to accommodate differences in climate. Care should be taken when studying the ratings for herbaceous perennial bedding plants. Most perennials do not normally bloom well the first year from seed, and their lower overall ratings reflect that fact.

Plant height and flower size are measured at field maturity. Height is often less than the maximum at Grand Rapids due to the shorter growing season. Flower size is relatively unaffected by location. “Flower size” usually refers to the width of a single blossom, but in certain cases, specified in a given table’s footnotes, it may mean the length of a spike (i.e., snapdragon) or width of a head (i.e., geranium).

Unlisted Cultivars

The selection of plants and cultivars to be emphasized in Minnesota’s trials varies from year to year. Their selection is based on results of previous trials, on current trends and on industry recommendations. Relative performance data for many plants and cultivars not in this Cultivar Trials of Bedding Plants may be available in editions from other years.

Acknowledgements

Authors of this publication are Anne M. Hanchek, Steven R. Poppe, and David K. Wildung. Additional text is by Larry A. Etkin and Sharon J. Gondek.

Cultivar trials in 1994 at St. Paul, Morris, and Grand Rapids were supervised by Bradley Pedersen, Steven R. Poppe, and David K. Wildung, respectively with the help of Mark Strefeler, John Erwin, Deborah Schwarze, and Anne Hanchek. Many thanks are due station staff and Minnesota Extension Service Master Gardeners for their assistance in conducting the trials.

Thanks also to All-America Selections for information, photos and artwork on AAS selections illustrated in this publication. Cover photos are by Dave Hansen. Other illustrations are by Tammy Nelson-Foster.

Publication chairperson..........Anne M. Hanchek
Editor, production manager
and publication designer.........Larry A. Etkin
Layout...........................Sharon Gondek

Table of Contents

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