Super Flowers

May 15th, 2012

   Now’s prime time for annual flowers. Are you choosing wisely?

Penn State's flower trial garden in Lancaster County.

    I’m all for saving money, but this is one area where you really do get what you pay for.

   A few of those cheapo 99-cent packs of flowers might do halfway decent in a pot, but most of the time they just don’t perform nearly as well as the named and more expensive flower varieties sold at greenhouses and garden centers.

   The difference is genetics. The cheapie plants tend to be older varieties grown from inexpensive seed. The high-performers (generally) are carefully bred, selected and tested varieties that are started from cuttings from mother plants.

   In my own gardens, the difference has been striking enough that I no longer buy those box-store “bargains.” I admit, I cringe at paying some of the prices these superior varieties cost, but I also know how much better they’re going to look come summer.

   If you’re not convinced, take a trip down to Penn State’s trial gardens near Landisville, Lancaster County.

   Every year, Penn State test-grows hundreds of new and newish varieties and rates them to help guide the market toward the best quality.

   You can see the trials yourself at no charge. It’s an excellent place to take notes on what flowers you’d like to try in your own yard.

   What’s more, Penn State posts photos and ratings of past trials online so you can research varieties before shelling out your hard-earned money.

   For ratings and directions, check out this site: http://www.trialgardenspsu.com.

   A few specific annuals that I think are some of the best on the market:

   Petunias. So many of the new ones are light years ahead of Grandma’s straggly varieties. My favorite is ‘Supertunia Vista Bubble Gum,’ a neon rosy-pink bloomer. But you’ll do fine with any of these series: ‘Supertunia,’ ‘Surfinia,’ ‘Sanguna,’ ‘Wave,’ ‘Famous’ and ‘Suncatcher.’

   Angelonia.These remind me of little orchids. ‘Serena’ is compact and seed-grown, so they should be affordable in 6-packs. I don’t know why every garden center isn’t selling these. ‘Angel Wing,’ ‘Carita’ and ‘Alonia’ also are very good.

Angelonia and petunias.

    Zinnias. The ‘Profusion’ series is seed-grown and less expensive. ‘Profusion Cherry’ fades, but ‘Orange’ and ‘Fire’ are excellent. ‘Zowie Yellow Flame’ is a traffic-stopper. And the ‘Zahara’ series also is excellent, compact and disease-resistant.

   Euphorbia. The annual type of this genus grows into a ball of white babys-breath-like flowers. They’re trouble-free, long-blooming and don’t get eaten by animals. ‘Diamond Frost’ is best known, but ‘Hip Hop’ and ‘Breathless’ are very similar.

   Coleus. Almost hard to go wrong if you stay away from the 99-cent 4-packs. Most of the varieties in 4-inch pots are big, beautiful, bullet-proof and more sun-tolerant than yesteryear’s types.

   Impatiens. Also hard to go wrong here. Even the cheapie ones do reasonably well. Impatiens are our No. 1 shade annual for good reason. Check out the new ‘Sunpatiens’ series for a high-performing, sun-tolerant series.

   Begonias. ‘Bonfire’ and ‘Dragon Wing’ are two of the biggest, showiest types. They’re best in pots and baskets but also perform well in the ground (sun or shade). Most of the wax types also are fine, although they don’t spread very far or very fast.

   Blue salvia.Tough in heat, sun and drought, and the rabbits don’t bother them. Their spiky blue-purple flowers look nice with pink petunias. Try ‘Signum,’ ‘Victoria’ or ‘Rhea.’

Verbena 'Magalena Pink Swirl.'

    Verbena. Big difference in variety here. The seed-grown ‘Quartz’ and ‘Obsession’ series always die for me. Much better are ‘Temari,’ ‘Aztec,’ ‘Lanai,’ ‘Fuega,’ ‘Magalena’ and ‘Tukana,’ although all sometimes go out of flower in summer heat.

   Vinca. These like warmth, so don’t plant too soon. The best performers I’ve seen are the ‘Cora,’ ‘Jaio,’ ‘Nirvana’ and ‘Pacifica’ series, although I also like ‘Blue Pearl’ and ‘First Kiss Blueberry.’

   Rudbeckia. One of the brightest, most eye-grabbing flowers of any kind is ‘Tiger Eye Gold.’ The flowers are big, and the petals are neon gold. It’s slow to get going, but from mid-summer on, this one will be the star of your garden.

   Don’t ask me where to buy all of these. I can’t keep track of who has what at any given time, so I basically haunt all of my favorite places, scooping up the best of what I find at each.

   In the end, I’ve got a nice collection of flowers and some satisfaction at knowing I’ve helped a variety of local businesses (not to mention my credit-card company).