Introductions from the international breeder at the 2022 California Spring Trials.

Notable new varieties to be introduced at CAST 2022 by Sakata:

Flamma celosia (seed) is coming in hot! Not only does this new series have exceptional heat tolerance in the field, but this celosia stuns with early, uniform flowering. Available in five vivid colors and one mix, Flamma provides vibrant plumes of color that won’t fade.

Dania primula (seed) is an ideal series for the early flowering segment! For growers, its compact plant habit requires little to no use of PGRs, while a vibrant color range and good uniformity make Dania a true eye-catcher at retail. With eight colors and a mix available in the series, Dania offers color variety that works well in pots or beds.

SunPatiens Compact impatiens (vegetative) is the heat-loving impatiens you know and trust, and is now available in gorgeous bicolors! New Lavender Splash has large orchid flowers highlighted with splashes of lavender coupled with bronze  foliage that provides striking contrast in a strong, mounding habit. New Lilac Improved offers an endless supply of vibrant lilac blooms all summer long. Purple Candy has large rose flowers with dark magenta, is early to bloom and well branched. Classic White is very floriferous with tons of large, clear white flowers. Exceptional heat tolerance and strong mounding habit.

SunPatiens Vigorous impatiens (vegetative) has the same great performance as Compact SunPatiens, but with 20-25% more vigor! New Peach Candy has large, eye-catching flowers with splashes of vibrant      orange and dark bronze foliage for a striking contrast. Pretty Pink offers beautiful, baby pink blooms covering the entire plant. Both new colors offer strong retail appeal and are very grower-friendly.

The new SunDance lananta (vegetative) in Pink features large flower clusters that open in creamy yellow and mature to light pink with dark green foliage and a strong, mounding habit. The series offers exceptional heat tolerance and continuous blooming all summer. A very-grower friendly series that serves as an excellent component plant for both SunPatiens and SuperCal combos.

New Grandio pansy (seed) colors include Red with Blotch and Silver Blue. Red with Blotch is early with uniform flowering that matches the series. Silver Blue is excellent for fall to winter flowering and has excellent uniformity to match the series.

The Spring Grandio pansy (seed) series is Grandio, but specifically bred pansy for early spring production! Spring Grandio offers early blooming across all varieties — more daylength neutral, and incredible plant uniformity and matched bloom time. Now available in new color: Silver Blue.

Introductions from the breeder at the 2022 California Spring Trials.

Notable new varieties to be introduced at CAST 2022 by Ball Horticultural:

Petunia SureShot is a new grower-friendly petunia series that has a seven-day flowering time and matching habit, so all colors can be shipped to retail at the same time. All varieties mix well together to create a range of color combinations. Ideal for all pot sizes and hanging baskets. Available in six colors.

Double Impatiens Glimmer is a new double impatiens series with beautiful rose-like blooms that is highly resistant to impatiens downy mildew. They make fabulous, durable hanging baskets for shade and low-light gardens. Launching for spring 2023 in seven colors. Available exclusively through Ball Seed.

Coleus MicroBlaze Matchsticks from Ball FloraPlant is micro-coleus has a unique foliage pattern with a habit perfect for small pot programs and decorative container mixes. It’s versatile for full sun and shade with stunning color and high impact.

Veronica Skyward from Darwin Perennials offers a high flower count on a dense, upright habit and boasts continuous blooming. Its durability ensures plants grow and ship without breakage for more saleable plants. Available in Pink and Blue. Pollinator friendly and powdery mildew resistant for perennial gardener success. Hardiness Zone 4b to 9a

With Polemonium ‘Golden Feathers’ from Darwin Perennials adds showstopping color to your shade program with this exciting golden variegated Polemonium (Jacob’s Ladder). Bluish-purple flowers are a bonus in the late-spring to summer months. Great accent plant in rock gardens, landscapes or small containers. Hardiness Zone 5b to 9a.

Echinacea Sombrero Poco Hot Pink is the compact version of the popular Sombrero series of coneflower. The sturdy plants are covered in blooms with bright, rich colors. For spring 2023, Hot Pink joins the team and is well-matched in habit, timing and exceptional winter hardiness. Hardiness Zone 4b to 9b

Pepper Aleppo from Burpee Plants. Aleppo peppers have a sweet taste with a nice kick of heat on the back end. This very thin-skinned and thin-walled pepper is native to Syria and Turkey. Mainly used dried or crushed. The taste is slightly smoky, salty, sweet, and warming.

Peppers From Heaven are small, sweet peppers great for hanging baskets and 6- to 7-in. pots. The compact plants produce lots of fleshy fruit that mature from green to glossy color (red, orange and yellow varieties are available). Plant three plants in one pot for a fuller look.

Upgrade your garden with heirloom tomato flavor and modern hybrid tomato performance. Tomato Blushing Star is an early-maturing, sweet and savory pink beefsteak. Its fruit has higher yield potential and fewer blemishes than most heirlooms. Offers disease resistance to late blight and Septoria leaf spot.

Celosia Floriosa from Ball Ingenuity. The plumosa Floriosa series is available in several colors. She shines with her flaming torches from April as a cheerful spring bloomer to October as a rewarding fall décor program. If finishing before the end of May, Floriosa can be grown without black cloth – an exciting extension for this plant.

Dianthus Falling in Love Rosie from Ball Ingenuity. The first hanging basket-type dianthus on the market! Falling in Love Rosie fills out its containers quickly and features beautiful bright-pink blooms that cascade. It offers repeat blooming from spring through summer for a lasting stream of color.

Petunia Headliner Strawberry Sky from Selecta One. The Sky Petunia family expands in spring 2023 with Strawberry Sky, a berry hue speckled with the popular sky pattern. The Headliner series is a medium-vigor, mounded series with early flowering and a fast finish.

Verbena Lascar Orange Lava from Selecta One. This is a fiery red verbena with a creeping and spreading habit – a garden spectacle, like lava oozing along the ground! It won’t fail to draw attention. Lascar is early-blooming and wide-branching, and grows beautifully in hanging baskets and in combos, too.

Calibrachoa MiniFamous Uno White Gold from SelectaOne.

Fantastic, novel bicolor addition to this established calibrachoa series. Clear white blooms with golden centers, match well with other MiniFamous Uno varieties. Medium compact habit makes it an ideal choice for baskets.

Perovskia Bluesette from Kieft Seed. This novelty variety has a controlled habit, early flowering and early finishing, making growing Perovskia for the consumer and landscape market easy. Bluesette works well at the front of the landscape, in a single premium patio container or in mixed combo. Produces a pleasing fragrance and attracts bees and butterflies. Hardiness Zone: 4a to 9a

Rudbeckia Goldblitzfrom Kieft Seed. Goldblitz is a natural daylength growing solution! This first-year-flowering perennial provides a more economical input option for natural daylength growers, as the plugs do not require special treatment to perform to the same quality as Goldsturm. Hardiness Zone: 3a to 9b

Rudbeckia August from Ball Ingenuity. This series of eye-catching summer flowering perennials show off masses of flowers in modern and appealing colors. The semi-double blooms grow beautifully in large containers for showpiece displays, or make a great home garden cut flower.

Interspecific Impatiens Solarscape from PanAmerican Seed

Solarscape is an interspecific impatiens from seed that provides unbeatable color in full-sun landscapes and containers. Performs just like vegetative varieties with the flexibility of seed. Greenhouses that supply the professional landscape market will appreciate this option for non-branded needs. Available in four colors plus one XL variety.

Begonia Hula from PanAmerican Seed

A unique spreading begonia series that looks great on the retail bench and amazing in hanging baskets and mixed containers. Hula is fast to fill in landscape beds, creating a blanket of flowers with high-impact color – launching with Red, Blush, Pink and Bicolor Red White. 

Tomato Sun Dipper from PanAmerican Seed

Just right for dipping, Sun Dipper’s elongated fruit can be held between your fingers for easy use with dips and sauces. The orange fruit looks great on a vegetable platter and tastes delicious. The durable plant has great resistance to in-ground diseases. Differentiate your vegetable program with this foodie option!

Introductions from the international breeder at the 2022 California Spring Trials.

Notable new varieties to be introduced at CAST 2022 by Danziger:

The deep-violet blooms, looped with a distinctive white rim make the new RIMarkable Petunia truly remarkable. This new standout variety will be the must-have petunia home gardeners want next season. RIMarkable features a mounding and trailing habit that makes it a perfect addition to larger premium baskets and combos.

If you’re looking for a perfect Pantone Very Peri to add to your line-up, COLIBRI Dark Lavender Calibrachoa is it. This calibrachoa features beautiful blooms that range from deep purple to light periwinkle. All of the colors in the COLIBRI series stay compact with little or no PGRs. They create beautiful quarts and hanging baskets, and pair well with other controlled growth selections for great combos.

Add a little drama and sparkle to your calibrachoa mix with COLIBRI Exotic Red Bling. This new for 2023 variety combines large, eye-catching red blooms with a dash of golden bling. The COLIBRI Bling series features an exciting new star pattern that stands out in the garden. A true head turner, Exotic Red Bling captured a great deal of attention at 2021 trials. Its controlled growth makes it a well-behaved member of any combo or hanging basket. Danziger loves it when paired with CAPELLA petunia and VANESSA Compact Verbena.

OMBRE Sunrise Calibrachoa brings all of the stunning color combinations of a magical morning to one plant. This outstanding calibrachoa has blooms that range from sunny yellow to warm gold to brilliant peach and striking red. The OMBRE calibrachoa series features multi-hued blooms on each plant and offers a controlled, semi-trailing habit that fits well in hanging baskets, patio pots and combinations. Like all Danziger calibrachoas, OMBRE is tested for pH sensitivity.

The VANESSA series is synonymous with exceptional mildew resistance and season-long color. For 2023 we’re toasting to a new variety with bold, beautiful color. VANESSA Compact Bordeaux Verbena is a deep, moody burgundy that creates a perfect complement to just about any container design. Each variety in the VANESSA Compact series features a naturally controlled habit that creates stunning packs, quarts and compact baskets or combos. Danziger conducts extensive verbena trials. Only varieties that exhibit exceptional mildew tolerance and outstanding cycling of color are chosen for the series.

CAPELLA may just be the perfect petunia for both growers and home gardeners. For growers, this petunia series has everything you need. CAPELLA performs well in propagation, creates a neat and tidy quart with minimal PGRs and blooms early enough for any market. For home gardeners, Capella offers bold and brilliant colors to go with any garden design. Once they take it home, this petunia also continues to gain size in the garden, making consumers feel more successful. New varieties for 2023 include improvements to their red, white, and blue petunias. CAPELLA Indigo Improved, Ruby Red Improved and White Improved create stunning mono-colored baskets. They’re also stunning with all three colors paired together for any patriotic holiday combo.

Introductions from the international breeder at the 2022 California Spring Trials.

Notable new varieties to be introduced at CAST 2022 by Dümmen Orange:

The new Pelargonium Santana series of interspecific geraniums is an easy choice for both containers and hanging baskets. With much improved heat tolerance compared to traditional zonal types and exceptional performance at both retail and in the garden, the Santana series’ dark green foliage provides a striking contrast to the large, oversized blossoms. Well-matched in flower timing and habit, this series offers a full color range.

Welcome to the Jungle is the newest trend-savvy interior foliage program offered from Dümmen Orange. Boasting a full range of stylish foliage items for containers and baskets, Welcome to the Jungle is the answer for consumers looking to liven up their indoor spaces.

Calibrachoa TikTok  Orange is named for the hands of a clock going around the center ring. The TikTok varieties have a very playful pattern on more vigorous plants, perfect for baskets and combinations. New TikTok Orange features medium-sized flowers with a playful pattern of eye-catching center and novel yellow spokes.

LaDiva Imperial Early is the earliest flowering Lavandula dentata on the market today. With a medium-compact habit, this LaDiva variety is a standout through the summer, boasting extreme heat and humidity tolerance. Typically grown for its woolly gray foliage, LaDiva Imperial Early delivers an abundance of blooms for non-stop color all season long.

The Smartunia Windmill collection of Intrinsa petunias features three new two-toned colors — Red, Pink and Black — with a distinctive windmill pattern that pays homage to Dümmen Orange’s Dutch heritage.  Smartunia Windmills are moderately vigorous with a well-branched and semi-upright habit, and blend perfectly together to create colorful mixed containers or hanging baskets.

The Petunia Smartunia Series is the world’s first TMV-resistant petunia collection. Intrinsa plants are stronger and more resistant, resulting in less production loss, more reliability in the supply chain and greater security for the grower’s bottom line.  

Introductions from the international breeder at the 2022 California Spring Trials.

Notable new varieties to be introduced at CAST 2022 by Green Fuse Botanicals:

An all-new addition to the Green Fuse Lifestyle collection, Begonia Citizen Cane Pink will absolutely demand retail attention.  Its crisp dark foliage with clean white polka dots lends well to foliage programs.  It will also maintain massive strings of deep pink blossoms with strong fragrance all growing season. Tight internodes and strong stems allow for worry-free shipping.

Extremely unique color patterns burst from this all new Calibrachoa Cruze Control Pink Flair. The series’ tight habit has made it a grower favorite. Its day length neutrality allows for sales as soon as the season allows. Strong color patterns will be a retail hit and an easy impulse sale!

A breeding breakthrough allows the all-new Tradescantia Pistachio White to maintain heavy white variegation while still supporting vigorous growth. It’s an excellent selection for monoculture in quarts through hanging baskets, as well an eye-popping combination item. Year-round sales are simple as a spring or foliage item.

A classic houseplant has all new life with Streptocarpus Ladyslippers Azure. Not only great timing for Pantone’s color of the year, Azure delights homeowners with dozens of blooms every day of the year. Extremely simple culture virtually guarantees grower and consumer success!

A truly unique breeding selection will enter the Dianthus Constant Cadence series next season. Potpourri offers a multitude of color as the flowers open a deep fuchsia and fade to a bright rose. Many flowers are even half and half in this extremely stable selection.  While Zone 4 hardy, Potpourri also makes a beautiful potted plant crop!

A complete reinvention of the “crazy daisy” type of shasta, Leucanthemum Whisker White is completely day length neutral and requires zero cooling hours to bloom. This is scheduling ease for all growers.  Its massive 5-to-6-inch flowers will continue in the garden all growing season.

An all-new selection to the wildly popular Lupinus Staircase series will explode onto the market next season. This bicolor Staircase promotes rose and yellow shades, clearly living up to its name. Like all Staircase, Pink Grapefruit blooms via temperature and not cooling or daylength. It is ready to show off any time of year!