New cut flower varieties for 2008

Pictures related to variety descriptions may be accessed by viewing the PDF files of the pages that originally appeared in GMPRO magazine:

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Achillea

Blooms of Bressingham’s Seduction series members have sturdy and columnar growth habits. They were bred by Sahin. Plants are taller and more upright than Tutti Frutti members. Foliage is cheerful green with silvery highlights and is lush and disease resistant. Flowers appear from June through August. There are two members. ‘Saucy Seduction’ has broad clusters of rosy-pink florets with subtle white shading. Plants reach 25 inches tall and 23 inches wide. ‘Sunny Seduction’ has butter-yellow florets that form large heads. Plants reach 24-30 inches tall and 28 inches wide.

Two colors were added to Blooms of Bressingham’s Tutti Frutti series, which was bred by Sahin. Plants have a compact, sturdy and full habit with uniform flowering. Flowers appear from June through August. Pink Grapefruit forms large, slightly mounded heads of vivid lavender-pink florets. Pomegranate has rich, velvety-red flowers. Plants reach 29 inches tall and 28 inches wide.

Anemone

‘Little Princess’ is a dwarf form of Japanese wildflower from Blooms of Bressingham. It produces soft-pink, 2 1/2- to 3-inch flowers in September and October. Flowers appear on dark, slender, 24-inch stems over neat mounds of medium-green, maple-cut leaves.

Anigozanthos

‘Pharlap’ was named after the famous Australian racehorse. This Rancho Tissue Technologies introduction has bright-green flowers with iridescent blue hairs. Plants reach 1 1/2 feet tall.

Aster

‘Vibrant Dome’ is a vigorous sport of ‘Purple Dome’ from Blooms of Bressingham. Its hot raspberry-pink, starry flowers completely cover the dark-green, lance-shaped foliage. Plants reach 19 inches tall and 30 inches wide.

Bromeliad

Rancho Tissue Technologies’ Hohenbergia correia-araujoi has copper-brown leaves banded in silver. Flower spikes are iridescent pink and reach 3 feet tall. Spikes are tipped with silver and are velvety to the touch.

Buddleia

Blooms of Bressingham’s ‘Butterfly Heaven’ produces long, tapering panicles of tiny, sweetly scented lavender florets with orange eyes. Flowers attract butterflies in the landscape and will appear from July through September.

Chrysanthemum

Yoder Brothers has seven new spray mums.

Brilliant is a red-orange cushion with large flowers and uniform response with excellent production. It is an excellent performer in low-temperature programs. Keeping quality is very good.

Candle is a red duet with a contrasting greenish duet cushion. Flowers are large. Plants have an eight-week response with medium vigor. They are excellent for fall bouquets. It is an excellent performer in low-temperature programs.

Energy has very large, yellow cushion flowers. Plants have an eight-week response with medium vigor and good keeping quality. It’s ideal for low-temperature programs.

Hint has soft, light-pink daisy flowers. Plants have very good keeping quality with medium vigor. It is an excellent performer in low-temperature programs.

Keen is a clear, white daisy. Plants have an eight-week response and very good keeping quality. They have uniform response with excellent production. It is great in low-temperature programs.

Lust has large, magenta daisy flowers. It is a medium-vigor performer with very good keeping quality. Response is uniform with good production. It is great in low-temperature programs.

Spunk is a white cushion with a lively green center. It is a medium-vigor performer with good keeping quality. Response is early and uniform with excellent production. It is excellent in low-temperature programs.

Delphinium

White Improved is part of PanAmerican Seed’s F1-hybrid Guardian series. It has longer, stronger stems with no flat flower tips. Crop time is shorter. A good habit will produce a second flush. The series has uniform flowering.

Echinops

Echinops bannaticus ‘Star Frost’ is a globe thistle from Jelitto Perennial Seeds. Plants have a shorter habit with nice branching. They produce a profusion of golf ball-sized white flowers from July to September. Decorative foliage (deep green on the upper sides and gray-green below) is a bonus.

Eryngium

Jelitto is offering Eryngium leavenworthii, which has great cut flower potential. Plants reach 2 feet tall. Bracts are silver and purple and can be used as drieds, too. Natural flowering time is July to September.

Erysimum

‘Jenny Brook’ has striking, multicolored flowers that appear from spring into late fall. This Blooms of Bressingham introduction has purple buds that open to peach flowers, which mature to rose and back to purple. Flowers are held aloft on many-branched stems. Plants reach 20-24 inches tall and 24 inches wide.

Eustoma

Goldsmith Seeds made two changes to its Twinkle series: Pink Improved and new Violet. Flowers are intensely colored and single. They are suitable for Group II or early-season Group III plantings. Members have think, single stems with tight flower clusters and smaller lower leaves to allow for clean production and harvest.

Gaura

‘Summer Breeze’ is a Gaura lindheimeri from Jelitto that was made from a selection by Christian Kress of Sarastro Nursery in Austria. It is a hardier, more robust selection with hundreds of blossoms over a long season. Flowers appear from July to October. Pink buds open to pure-white flowers.

Gerbera

Terra Nigra’s Gerfolia series is a breakthrough in gerbera breeding. Series members have foliage all the way up the stem. Flowers are more natural shaped as well.

Florist de Kwakel has four gerbera additions.

Aventura has 24-inch stems. Flowers measure 4- to 4.8 inches in diameter. Vaselife is 14-16 days.

Cacharelle has 24-inch stems. Flowers measure 4.4- to 5.2 inches in diameter. Vaselife is 13-15 days.

Cinema’s flowers have a vaselife of 15-17 days.

Kayak’s flowers measure 4- to 4.8 inches in diameter. Vaselife is 12-14 days.

Helianthemum

Helianthemum nummulariumHartswood Ruby has saucer-shaped, 1-inch flowers that are true velvety red with bright-golden stamens. It is from Blooms of Bressingham. Flowers are borne in profusion along low, spreading stems. Leaves are narrow, glossy and evergreen. Plants reach 14 inches tall and 22 inches wide the first year.

Helichrysum

Blooms of Bressingham’s ‘Pink Sapphire’ is a pink version of ‘Ruby Cluster.’ Plants have pale-pink, round buds in late May to June. Buds open to small, stiff, papery flowers that persist into summer. Foliage is soft and silvery. Plants reach 6 inches tall and 12 inches wide.

Lily

Onings Holland has several new Oriental lilies. Here are two.

American SuperStar has very large flowers and is a strong performer. Its color is close to Starfighter, but bud size is much larger.

Marrero is a white and strawberry milkshake color. It’s a strong lily that performs well during winter.

Flamingo Holland has two additions to the Tango series: Tiger Play and Adios Nonino. Both can be used from an 11/12 size bulb, but a 12/14 size is best. Forcing time for Tiger Play is 12 weeks; for Adios Nonino, it’s 13 weeks.

Limonium

Danziger “Dan” Flower Farm’s new Limonium sinensis Sensy series flowers quickly and uniformly. Plants respond well to precooling and are very high yielders. Large inflorescences are held on thin, sturdy stems. Plants have a long vaselife. There are three colors: Purple, White Dawn and Dark Pink.

Lisianthus

American Takii has two lisianthus series bred for cut flowers.

The F1-hybrid Arena series has large, very double flowers on strong, sturdy stems. Members exhibit less sensitivity to short stem length under long-day conditions and appear les sensitive to rosetting in plug cultivation. There are five colors: Green (Group I), White (Group II), Pink (Group III), Yellow (Group III) and Rose (Group IV).

Takii’s new F1-hybrid Vulcan series has large, cup-shaped flowers and strong stems. Flowers have thick petals so they hold up to shipping. Members also have better top flowering. There are two colors: Pink Picotee and White (both in Group II).

Fred C. Gloeckner’s summer-flowering Advantage series is an improvement to the Super Magic series. Plants have stronger stems and are more uniform. Flowers are double. There are four colors -- Yellow, Green, Purple and Cherry Sorbet -- in Group II.

Panicum

Panicum elegans ‘Frosted Explosion’ is an ornamental grass that can be used as a filler. This Fred C. Gloeckner introduction has high germination, good uniformity and a high production rate per plant.

Plumeria

‘Dwarf Singapore Pink’ is a Plumeria obtusa from tissue culture from Rancho Tissue Technologies. Flowers are pink with yellow throats and are extremely fragrant.

Rose

Excel Roses is offering three roses to the North American market from different breeders.

Pink Bouquet (‘Korderay’) is a pink spray rose bred by W. Kordes Sohne in Germany. Flowers have a unique green bud center. At the open cut stage, the coloration is more apparent. Flowers transport well. Stem length is 24 inches. Vaselife is 14 days.

Zonta+ (‘Lexatnoz’) was bred by LEX+ in the Netherlands. It was introduced to the Dutch market in February 2007. Flowers are yellow. Stem length is 24-32 inches. Vaselife is 12 days.

Tara (‘Empara’) is a large hybrid tea bred by Bartels Roses in the Netherlands. Flowers are large and bright yellow with consistent coloring. Production is spectacular, and vaselife is great.

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia grandiflora ‘Sundance’ is a select strain offered by Jelitto. It has golden-yellow blossoms shaped like parasols with tall, brown cones. Plants have a sturdy, upright growth habit. Foliage consists of oblong, basal leaves.

Silene

Silene dioica ‘Firefly’ produces double, bright magenta-pink flowers in midsummer. Flowers resemble mini-carnations. Blossoms are borne in a fountainlike eruption. This Blooms of Bressingham introduction has mounds of midgreen, lightly haired, ovate leaves that expand upward with the flowers. Plants reach 30 inches tall and 24 inches wide.

Snapdragon

Goldsmith made changes to two of its snapdragon series.

The Overture series has Group II responsiveness and strong, thick, single stems. Flowers are on long, tapered spikes and are uniform between the colors. Plants flower under short days, lower temperatures and low light conditions. New members are: Ivory II ’08 Improved, Rose II, Royal Magenta II and Yellow II ’08 Improved.

The Opus series has Group III/IV responsiveness and strong, thick, single stems. Flowers are on long, tapered spikes and are uniform between the colors. Plants flower under long days, higher temperatures and high light conditions. New members are Bright Red III/IV and Fresh White IV.

PanAmerican made changes to two of its snapdragon series.

Two colors were added to the F1-hybrid Cool series: Crimson and Purple.

The new Trumpet series is for Group I and II. Flowers have large florets arranged along medium-long spikes. Stems are thicker and longer with more flowers than comparable series. Flowers are open-faced and slightly fragrant. There are six members: Fuchsia (Group II), Pearl (Group II), Rose Frost (Groups I and II), Sunshine (Group II), Tangerine (Groups I and II) and Terra Cotta (Group II). Tangerine and Rose Frost are faster to flower than the other members.

Solidago

Golden Glory is a new solidago from Danziger. Plants are very high yielding and vigorous. Flowers are sunny yellow. They are large and clear, which is an improvement over other varieties. Foliage is dark green and relatively wide. Stems react well to shipping.

Stock

American Takii’s ‘White Wonder Improved’ is an extra-early, bright-green-leafed variety that produces well-formed spikes. Stem length and flower shape have been improved. Stem length is 24-32 inches.

PanAmerican made changes to two of its stock series.

Apricot was added to the Aida series. It fits into the series with habit, crop time, flower size and flower fragrance.

The new Katz series was named after Philip Katz, who was a seed cut flower product manager at PanAmerican. A percentage of the sales will go to PANCAN, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Plants have a shorter crop time with uniformity in flowering with the same length and timing between colors. They have a better heat tolerance than traditional types. About 55-60 percent of flowers are double. They are fragrant. There are four colors: Cherry Blossom, Light Lavender, Light Pink and White. White is two days slower than other members.

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Trachelium

Pink is the latest member of PanAmerican’s Lake Forest series. It’s well-matched to the series.

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American Takii, (831) 443-4901; www.takii.com.

Blooms of Bressingham, (330) 745-2143; www.bobna.com.

Danziger “Dan” Flower Farm, 011 (972) 3-9602525; www.danziger.co.il.

Excel Roses, (805) 343-2900; www.excelroses.com.

Flamingo Holland, (760) 734-1033; www.flamingoholland.com.

Florist de Kwakel, 011 (31)297 328229; www.gerbera.com.

Fred C. Gloeckner & Co. Inc., (800) 345-3787; www.fredgloeckner.com.

Goldsmith Seeds, (408) 847-7333; www.goldsmithseeds.com.

Jelitto Perennial Seeds, (502) 895-0807; www.jelitto.com.

Onings Holland, (805) 227-6198; www.onings.com.

PanAmerican Seed, (800) 879-2255; www.panamseed.com.

Rancho Tissue Technologies, (858) 756-6785; www.ranchotissue.com.

Terra Nigra, (805) 684-4410; www.terranigrausa.com.

Yoder Brothers, (330) 745-2143; www.yoder.com.

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- Jyme Mariani

May 2008