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Ball Colegrave’s trial field

UK: New plants for 2017 on display

The sea of bright blue flags fluttering in the breeze as you pass through West Adderbury near Banbury is a signal to slow down for the blast of colour from Ball Colegrave’s trial field nearby, one of the few places where new varieties of summer-flowering plants are trialled in this country. During July, 2,000 garden centre owners, growers, head gardeners and garden writers descended on the field to admire colour-themed displays. We’re all after next year’s crowd pleasers, the plants that will flower non-stop through summer. There are 200 new plants, from around the world, arranged into colour-themed displays such as Bollywood and Fiery Flame.

Begonias are riding high. Stuart Lowen, Ball Colegrave’s expert marketing manager, says: “They are such forgiving plants. They take the rain, the heat and the cold.” This means that gardeners can rely on them whether they’re in sun or shade, and during a cool British summer. They reflect the changes in breeding because those tuberous begonias with one or two huge frilly flowers have been replaced by non-stop begonias with masses of smaller flowers, often in fiery shades. These flower for months and, even before they do so, the dark foliage shines. ‘Northern Lights Scarlet Burst’, shone out with its mixture of smallish double and single red flowers on soft stems. This graceful begonia can be grown in pot or basket just about anywhere, although at Lowen’s home it’s enjoying full sun in a vertical wall planting. Vertical wall planters, with automatic drip irrigation, are a godsend for those with tiny gardens.

Read more at The Telegraph
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