Windmill Nursery
For many years, Windmill Nursery has been a CAST location and this year too. Below the breeders that were displaying their varieties at this location.
Terra Nova Nurseries
Chuck Pavlich of Terra Nova Nurseries holding their new Penstemon DAKOTA ‘Verde’, one of their 20 new varieties that they were presenting in a playful way. The display features a “Join us for a Picnic in the Park” theme, which includes custom-built displays based on playground structures. The rack height at shipping time is one of the key features of the new Penstemon DAKOTA series. According to Chuck, it is the shortest Penstemon Penstemon digitalis group on the market. Click here for the article that we recently published on the Penstemon DAKOTA series.
On the left: Artemisia Makana Silver makes a mounding, small shrub. It's soft, silvery foliage works great in a mixed container or in the ground. Can be used for containers, accent, or planted in mass. It can be trained as a small specimen tree. It is fast growing and needs good drainage. It is perennial in USDA Zones 9-11. On the right: Geum tempo Yellow blooms early spring with numerous semi-double yellow flowers with dark edges on black stems. Long blooming. Bright green leaves grow in a dense mound. Loved by pollinators. Deer resistant. Easy to grow. Click here for the enlarged picture.
2Plant International
Pieter van der Lans of 2Plant, a new CAST participant presenting one of their Asiatic lilies that is part of their Bloom Extension Program. In this program, they put two different lilies with a different flowering time in one pot to extend the blooming period of the plant in general.
On the left the Easter Lily Miracle. It is a new Easter Lily that is around 3 weeks earlier than the well known Nelly White. According to van der Lans, it is an easy lily to grow and no PGRs are required. On the right, a new cross between an Easter lily and an asiatic lily. The result is a better asiatic lily; larger flowers, sturdier, can better handle heat. Click here for the enlarged picture.
J. Berry Nursery
James Fisk of Winterstroom Farm in South Africa and Tamara of J. Berry Nursery presenting the new Cabana Canna “Lemon & Gin”, bred by Fisk. This variety stays below 40 cm, free flowering, virus indexed, and has slight white edges on the leaf. It is a real international variety as it is bred in South Africa (by Fisk), tissue culture is grown in the Netherlands and the variety is grown in San Diego.
On the left Crown Jewel Begonias. This new series consists of four varieties which are heat and humidity tolerant. On the right: Jim Berry holding the Gardenia Sweetheart. It is a fragrant variety that does not require (maybe one pinch) pruning. Click here for the enlarged picture.
Kientzler North America
Steve Rinehart and Andreas Kientzler of Kientzler North America presenting two new varieties to the NGI Paradise line; Magenta Eye and Dark Lavender.
On the left the Coleus combo. The plants, bred by Terra Nova Nurseries, have a uniform plant growth, plants maintain shape in summer containers and have a good heat tolerance. All in all, they do well in combinations, which is a hot trend in the US. On the right: Double Sugar Plum, a variety Kientzler is working together with UK breeder David Kerley. The flower of this petunia is smaller, is self-cleaning, compact and early to flower. Click here for the enlarged picture.
Dave Endenfield of Skagit Horticulture. Skagit is not a breeder, but they grows liners of different breeders' varieties. Endenfield is standing behind the Corydalis Hillier 'Porcelain Blue'. It is a variety of PlantHaven and has aqua blue flowers and blue-green fern-like foliage. It has no summer dormancy, is profusely repeat flowering and has no seed set.
Greenfuse Botanicals
Steve Jones of Greenfuse presenting the new Milk Cherry Dianthus. The flowers of this variety turns color during lifetime; they will open white and then harden to deep rose and finally dark red.
On the left New Madrid Lavish Lavender. "It is the first ever multi-bract lavender. This tender, zone 7, perennial is not only the earliest Spanish Lavender to bloom, but it also produces massive flower heads." The typical Stoechas false flowers are not only on the top of the bloom, but all over the entire bract. This structure will hold immensely well both in retail and in the garden. It is available in Purple, Pink and White for the 2018-2019 season. On the right Leucanthemum double Daisy is a new double flowered Leucanthemum. Click here for the enlarged picture.
Floranova
Ralph Cockburn of Floranova presenting Reach Out, a new series of F1 Ivy Leaf Geranium consisting of 6 colors. It has a rounded and compact habit with shorter internodes.
On the left side, the new vegetalis assortment of Floranova. It is a whole new series that comes from an Indian breeding programme and the varieties are therefore performing well in a hot and light climate. One of the varieties in this series is the F1 Summerlast patio tomato. This variety stands out as it is the first dwarf, determinate tomato with built in blight resistance (strains 2 & 3). In their trials, the foliage stays very green and healthy and the plant therefore keeps producing fruit even into the autumn. The plant height is naturally around 65-70 cm and very well branched and is perfect for use in patio containers." On the right the Blockbuster Vinca. It is a new series of Vinca and is available in 10 colors. This Vinca is characterized by its large flowers with overlapping petals; they do not have the bad habit of opening like a helicopter. Click here for the enlarged picture.