This Week In The Trial Garden Sep 7, 2012

This week we have made the final ratings and pictures of the 2012 Test Garden season. We will be preparing the garden for the Fall Trial where we will be evaluating over 500 different varieties of pansy, viola, dianthus, snapdragons and others. We are transplanting everything in the greenhouse next week and will have the Fall open house October 17. Planting in the garden happens the next week. We will be looking at them monthly and do the final rating in April.

Plant of the Week

I was a little jealous of how good the Celosia looked at the Ball Trial Garden when we visited two weeks ago. I think the cooler temperatures and shorter day lengths probably allow them to do better in their garden than in ours. 

This year however Celosia Kelios Purple from Beekenkamp has done incredible in our garden. It was a little slow to get started but has done very nice all season. As you can see in the picture it has taken over the bed and is a mass of bright purple flowers.

Vinca

Vinca is always a great plant for the hot summer season and this year is no different.

The Cora Series from Syngenta was an innovation in plant breeding when it came out a couple years ago. The plant breeders found a way to make Cora's resistant to a disease that kills vinca plants. This year they added a new color to the line, Cora Strawberry. This new color has done excellent in the garden and really stands out.