84-Lancaster Fanning, Friday, January 9, 1998 All Gardens Great & Small by York Co. Horticultural Agei Tom Becker Outstanding Annuals In 1997 Last week we looked at sever al outstanding perennials that Dr. Robert Berghage evaluated at the University Park Trial Gardens in 1997. They included Echinacea Magnus, Heuchera Purple Palace, Eryngium Blaukappe, and Digitalis Apricot. This week we will look at several out standing annuals including verbenas, marigolds, petunias, begonias and others In all, Dr Berghage, staff and volunteers planted over 800 cultivars in the 1997 trial gardens Their results are reported in "Friends of the Garden, Fall, 1997 Real standouts, in 1997 were Verbena Romance Pink, and Romance Deep Rose They performed very well, with numerous bright flowers in July and August Heirloom Apple blossom and Heirloom Light Blue produced pastel flower colors that make a nice display combined and other bedding plants Verbena Imag ination, a former AAS winner grew well, but flowered poorly It was also a very good year for the seed geraniums like the cultivar Marvick Star, was outstanding with vigorous growth, and good flower produc tion The gazama were very nice this year too Daybreak Bright Orange and Daybreak Red Stripe were both vigorous and flowered profusely. Many annual plants started slowly last May but finished strong by September the fibrous begonia performed well late into the season Victo ry Greenleaf Rose was one of the nicest, with outstanding flower color and contrasting foliage The cultivar Lima White was especially uniform. Nierembergia Mont Blanc an AAS selection grew more slowly than usual early in the season, but as it has in the past, was an outstanding groundcover by mid to late August, and performed well right into September. The zinnia cultivars Profusion Rose and Profusion Orange entered by the All American Selections program “Quattty is remembered bony after price is forgotten" 1925 West Main Street, Ephrata, PA 17522 717-788-3781 Fax 717-733-2826 SSff*' s * iai r s l&fe&cts, womrn over ssBo ; {gjp** and aia?fst 3 ? 6doi>«Jk food atom; grocery wowolpt stores aH over tie S£2te^”’ 4 in o " r p °“ i Brok « 8 «*!* S^. - ■ <mk% .md%mm^mfw*m *» B *”*«■»■»• tia «t our So ousted *™' * how 3« *»»»$ Of *& item- * ' md im***mnA fhm tfee? IjJeover Nut Company OUTLET STORES Lancaster Ephrata 3519 Columbia Avenue 1925 West Main Street Lancaster, PA 17603 Ephrata, PA 17522 Phone: (717) 285-3818 Phone: (717) 738-3337 Hours; Mon.-Fn. 8:30-8:30 Sat. 8:30-5:00 Sun.-Closed- • were two of the most colorful plants in the garden in August and September. They were vigorous and uni form, did not suffer from any disease problems and were only slightly bothered by Japanese beetle. The marigolds were all small er than normal in 1997, but all performed well late into the sea son. Several of the nicer culti vars were Luna Orange, Luna Yellow, Hero Bee and Safari Tangerine. The vincas were slow growing and small. However a few seemed to be able to tolerate the cooler season better than others. The Cooler series was best. The cultivar Cooler Icy Pink was best. The grandiflora petunias per formed much more poorly than the other types (floribunda and multifloras). Storm White was the best white in the trials. By far the best overall petunias were the "wave" series, Pink Wave and Purple Wave. fesgk* jfc r ~: ««$«»*& [ , '_ * T*‘' _ J rr r' ‘ w Of the milliflora petunias the best cultivar is still Fantasy Pink Morn. Lirica Showers Blue and Lirica Showers Rose were interesting new petunias for this year. They have very small flowers (1/2 inch) and tiny leaves on prostrate almost woody stems. They performed well in the gar den. Another interesting "new" plant for the University Park garden was he Cape Daisy (Osteorpermum). These plants flowered well in the spring but flowering dropped off in the summer. In the fall many suc cumbed to disease, with the exception of the cultivar Seaside. White plants on both sides died, these plants were still going strong in September. They produced a reasonable number of light purple daisy like flowers all season long which graced their dark green succulent foliage. This cultivar was vigor ous but compact. Wholesale distributor of Nuts, Dried Fruits, Candies, Coffees, Sugars, Pastas 8 Teas More Than 5,000 Varieties COFFEE SHOP A HOURS: Mon.-Sat. 6:30 AM - 3:30 PM The most interesting new impatiens were the cultivar Super Elfin Sunrise. This culti var had spectacular unique flow ers with orange centers and fuchsia edges. There were a number of nice cut flower plants in the garden this year. Sunflower Valentine had numerous n j Ce medium/small lemon yellow flowers on long stems. Cut flower asters of the Matador senes from benary were nice double flowered asters. The cultivar Matador Fiery Red for example was red with white centers on long stems. These plants flowered a bit later than other cut flower asters in the garden but they were worth the wait. For a complete summary write to : Dr. Robert Berghage, director, Horticulture Trial Gardens, 102 Tyson Bid, University Park, PA 16802.’ Please include a $lO check made out to the Pennsylvania State University, 3519 Columbia Avenue Lancaster, PA 17603 Phone: (717)285-9688 Sun. Closed
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