GardenLine | Yard & Garden | Flower Introductions for 1989

Williams was a graduate student with the Department of Horticulture. This column is offered as a service of the Division of Extension and Community Relations and the Department of Horticulture Science, University of Saskatchewan.

When the wind chill plummets, the snow blows, and temperatures plunge to -40C, most gardeners are more than willing to sit close to a wood stove (move over, cat) and fantasize amid the 1089 offerings of seed catalogs.

Although few of these newer cultivars have been tested under Saskatchewan conditions, most have been selected for flower size, color, disease or insect resistance, earliness of bloom, and resistance to adverse weather conditions. Selection is also usually made on the basis on a comparison to the best previously existing cultivars. So all should be worthwhile trying here on the Prairies.

So, what's new? First, the pot plants

Pot Plants

'Mini-pot Mixed' is a selection of African violet (Saintpaulia) grown from seed. Only one third the size of standard African violets, they produce the same number of flower heads and sometimes almost normal size flowers. The packet includes both double and single flowers in a wide range of colors including bicolors and bronze-leafed forms. Flowering will take from 4 months to more than a year, depending on the particular seed (Thompson and Morgan.)

Another pot plant and 1989 All American Selection winner is the 'Clown' mixture of Torenia, with larger flowers, more colors, and hear resistance. (Torenia is also called 'Wishbone flower' because the stamens in the flower are said to resemble a wishbone.) Only 8 inches high, this dwarf pot plant is recommended for shaded areas. Colors include blue-white and pink-white bicolors, plus pure white and various shades of blue. Sow seed in February.

Perennials

New perennials include a five-foot perennial delphinium called 'Pink Dream' (also from Thompson and Morgan), which flowers in mid-July from a March sowing. Although not tested under Saskatchewan conditions, it is supposed to be hardier than the Pacific types. It will be interesting to see how they fare in local gardens over several winters.

Dominion Seed House offers 'Early Sunrise' perennial coreopsis, a Gold Medal All America Selections winner as well as a winner of Europe's coveted Fleuroselect Gold Medal. Although its hardiness has not been tested under Saskatchewan conditions, if sown in March it blooms abundantly its first year. The golden yellow double flowers are up to 5 cm across on sturdy 45 cm plants.

Also new from Thompson and Morgan is Limonium aureum 'Supernova', an everlasting of 2-4 feet which resembles a baby's breath but with yellow flowers. Originally from Mongolia, it should be hardy under our conditions. Seeded early, it will flower during its first growing season, so could be treated as an annual. As a dried bouquet, it has a papery texture and a golden yellow color which will not fade.

Annuals

Among the new annual flowers are 'Garden Party', a scarlet sweet pea and "Lilac Ripple' a pure white sweet pea picoteed and splashed with purple.

If you're tired of impatiens, coleus, and begonias in your shade beds, you might want to try the new 'Calypso' hybrid mimulus. Flowering 7-9 weeks after sowing, the mixed packet includes vibrant shades and combinations of yellow, orange, scarlet, and pink.

There is also a new nemesia available from Thompson and Morgan. 'Mello' has 3/4" bicolor flowers with raspberry red upper petals and bright white lower petals on compact plants of 8 inches, ideal for beds, borders, and containers.

Among the new flower introductions from Stokes Seeds is 'Lasting Orange', a carthamus or safflower which is recommended as either a cut or dried flower. Somewhat resembling a yellow bachelor button, it is 80 cm in height with blooms 4 cm in diameter which open yellow and turn orange on maturity. Easy to grow, flowers are ready for cutting 90 days after seeding.

Also from Stokes, and now available as separate colors, are the dwarf, early-flowering 'Minarette' lupins. Only 38-61 cm in height, they will bloom the first season when sown in March. Separate colors include white, blue, red, yellow, and pink.

Although verbena have long been known for their rather poor germination rates, the Novalis series have a higher germination percentage, much larger flowers, and more intense shades. Colors include deep blue (an All America Selections winner), scarlet, and rose pink, all with white eyes.

'Tango Orange' impatiens is another 1989 All America Selections winner. The large flowers are 6 cm in diameter with deep green and white variegated foliage. A New Guinea hybrid, it will do best with a half-day of sunlight. Although the bloom is sometimes sparser than that of the regular impatiens the vivid colors and attractive foliage more than compensate for this. Excellent for hanging baskets or containers, it is similar to the fuschia-colored impatiens which have been a hit in the Forestry Farm Park beds over the last few years.

'Telstar Picotee', another All America Selections winner, is an attractive annual dianthus with single crimson-red flowers edged with white on the serrated petals. They are long-blooming 25 cm mound-shaped plants with exceptional heat tolerance.

Due to personal prejudices, the author has for the most part omitted mention of new petunias, marigolds, and zinnias, but two are worth noting.

A zinnia with a difference is 'Rose Pinwheel', bred for its mildew resistance. It has attractive single 7 cm diameter daisy-like flowers with bright orange centers which open pink and turn deep rose on maturity.

'Lemon gem' is a marigold with a difference.e A soft lemon yellow, it forms a compact mound of single, star-like flowers with orange centers only 12 inches high. With fine, feathery foliage, it is ideal for containers as well as beds.

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Sustainable horticultural information, offered free of charge to the public with the support of the University of Saskatchewan Extension Division, the Department of Plant Sciences and the Provincial Government.