Thursday, February 24, 2011

Five To Tempt You!

Visit Tootsie for Fertilizer Friday!

I subscribe to a magazine out of Canada, which I may have mentioned in a past postGARDENMAKING.

I have barely gotten past the first several pages when I see a title "5 To Tempt You." These are the plants that were trialed at Ontario's University of Guelph and on the grounds of Landscape Ontario.  Roger Tschanz was at the head of this project and trialed 569 new varities and was asked to pick only five for this publication

I thought you would like to know what he selected:

Mecardonia Goldust
(From Proven Winners)
Can be used in containters or bedding, sun, a good spiller in a container

Spring Celebrities Hollyhock
(From Sahin)
Blooms the first year from seed

Dianthus Venti Parfait Crimson Eye
(From Goldsmith)
Flower size was twice the size of other dianthus
The University of Illinois also trialed this plant in 2010 and the results were marginal, however, my dianthus Firewitch performed very poorly because of the heat we had last summer.

Verbena Temari Cherry Red
(From Suntory)
This is a trailing verbena that did very well in the summer heat.

New Guinea Impatiens Magnum
(From Dummen)
Several colors with 4" blooms in partial shade

I will have a list a mile long when I go to the nursery!  I may not purchase these plants that have received accolades but I am interested in seeing what they look like.