Weird Plant Week

Abe will cringe and I held off as long as I could, but this week is Weird Plant Week. I always say New Guinea impatiens used to be a weird plant!!

First up:  Gomphrena Pink Zazzle was all the rage in California last year. We tried to grow it in a pot and it takes months to get it to look good enough but people do like it when it is in color. It is doing ok in the garden and the flower is cool to look at!

The Next up is not new but has done really well. Eucalyptus Silver Drop has really taken off in the last month and has beautiful silver foliage. This thing is a little well behaved bush at the moment

 There are many other genera of Verbena than the one we typically sell. This Verbena bonariensis upright one sold by Benary is called Finesse Apex. It is about 3 feet tall little shrub and is covered in flowers. Remember that this started from a small 1 quart pot about a month ago!

Salvia is not really weird but to call one out is. Proven Winners claimed Saucy Salvia for their own and are calling it Salvia Ablazin' Tabasco. This plant has quickly filled it bed space and is covered in red flowers. Right now it is about 2 feet tall but should keep growing all summer!

Achillea is another not weird plant but this one would probably not get much attention the rest of the season. Conrad Pyle is calling this one Moon Dust and it growing outstanding!

One final plant on the perennial side is this Stachys from Dummen called Bella Grigio which according to Google Translate is Italian for "Beautiful Grey". It definitely is grey and has been catching peoples eye on the top level.

Happy Gardening

Dr. Mark

ps Here are some pictures of bees thriving in the test garden! They love cuphea.

Test Garden Open House Week

It was a very hot day but we had a very good turn out for our Test Garden Open House yesterday.

As part of our open house we have voting by the attendees for the plant of year. We send out plants selected by the breeding companies to members of our Home Garden Panel to grow in their yard. We keep some back and place them in our test garden for the "Professionals" to vote on as well.

The winner (by a close margin) was Flash Mob Blueterrific Petunia.

Starcluster Pentas was a close second (though there were a lot of Syngenta people here :)

This weeks plant of the week for annuals is Osteospermum Blue Eyed Beauty. Osteos are typically thought of as cooler season crop. We have had a good week or so of hot temperatures and it is still looking good.

My Vegetable of the Week is the Peti-Cue from Floranova. This is a compact cucumber plant for the small space (or container) gardener. We should have some ripe fruit next week that we will be doing some taste testing on.

The Perennial Plant of the Week is Digitalis Dalmation Rose. These are at peaking this week and are stunning!

Good Gardening!

Dr. Mark

Peaceful Friday in the Test Garden

It is a quiet day in the test garden this Friday. However next week should be busier!  We have the open house next Thursday June 19 from 8 am till 5 pm. If you are in the neighborhood feel free to drop by (lunch at 12). Other regional test gardens can be found at www.southerngardentour.com.

Osteospermum Voltage: Voltage Yellow has been putting on an excellent show the last couple weeks and the new Voltage White is doing great as well. The Yellow is a mass of yellow flowers.

Shade: Our shade garden is looking very nice this week as well. One highlight is the new coleus from Dummen called Wallstree has filled it space in and is looking really eye catching.

Another item doing great this week is the New Bounce Impatiens series. One color that especially caught my eye with the Bounce Lavender

Perennials

In bloom and looking great this week are:

Lily Looks Sunny Grenada: The flowers are on sturdy stalks and  has 4 to 5 blooms. It looks like it will be flowering a couple weeks.

Nepeta Junior Walker: This just exploded into color this week. It is has an excellent habit and has filled in its space.

Also exploding into color this week is Riding Hood Penstemon Lavender. This pink is very show and the plant has a very nice strong habit.

Fun Plants! 

Gomphrena Pink Zazzle was the talk of the California pack trial last year. I am still a little skeptical that we could get it to look nice in a pot but is doing well in the garden so far.

Greeting from The Metrolina Trial Garden. The garden is really at prime this week. I almost wish we had the open house this week instead of Thursday June 19 (all are in invited). The weather has been perfect and things are looking good.

Angelonia Archangel Dark Rose

This is the 3rd color addition to the Archangel line. We tested it last year in the "Secret Garden" and it held up nicely all season. The color really catches you eye!

 Petunia Surfina Sumo Experimental Pink

 This is our first look at this variety so we do not know a lot about it. It has great vigor in the garden and the color caught my eye from the road (In the sea of 100 petunias)



 Petunia Surfina Sumo Experimental Plum
Interestingly enough right next door is "Experimental Plum". This sister to the pink is not doing as well (Below left). We try to replicate everything in another part of the garden so we get a good look. The other rep is doing better (Below Right) but does seem weaker. And that is why we test!

Gladiolus From 2 Plant

We have 5 of the new gladiolus from 2Plant in the perennial garden this year. The flowers are stunning right now and will probably be peak next week. It will be interesting to see how (if?) they over winter in our zone 7 environment! 

Charlotte

Jacky

Kelly

Patty

Zoe

Delphinium Diamonda Blue

 This  Delphinium from Pan American Seed has been blooming strong for the last two weeks. This is on the upper level and you can see it from the road. Stunning color!

2014 Plant of Year

This years Plant of the Year plants went out two week ago to a select group lucky  Home Garden Panel members throughout the country.  They were all excited and eager to plant them. I guess who doesn't like to get free plants? Below are the group we plant in our garden just to compare (below).  I can't wait for this years ratings in July!

Happy Gardening

from Dr. Mark

2014 Test Garden

Welcome to another year of the Metrolina Test Garden!

We started planting the garden April 28 and finished up that Friday. We have over 1900 items which are in ground beds and in containers. This year we are also excited to have more than 400 perennials which we plan to over winter the perennials and evaluate  again next year.

Now to he plants!

Cosmos Cosmic Mix (Thompson and Morgan)

One "old fashioned" plant that may be making a come back is Cosmos and the English guys at Thompson and Morgan have been working hard on this genus. This Cosmic Mix is a little up and down size wise but is very nice so far. They submitted a straight color called Tango which was  a very nice orange flower and was looking very nice the week before (and was going to be my plant of the week) but has since gone out of color.




Cannova Cannas (Ball)

Another plant doing good in the garden is Cannova Cannas. We have been testing these several years in the confidential greenhouse but this is our first trial in the garden. We have 5 of colors in the garden and will be reporting how they do through out the season. Right now they have a great height and are flowering nicely.



Coreopsis Solana Golden Sphere

One perennial that is looking great right now is Coreopsis Solana Golden Shere. This has been really eye catching and has been covering up the old flowers fairly nicely.