The AAS has announced some winners for 2007. A Celosia, Petunia, Vinca, and Pepper. These are the the best performing new garden seed selections available. I am particularly interested in the Vinca ‘Pacifica Burgundy Halo’ and Petunia F1 ‘Opera Supreme Pink Morn’
The Celosia, ‘Fresh Look Gold’ is pretty and Celosias are useful feathery spires in the annual choices for the garden. It is usually good for drying, but has a sort of ungainly look in my opinion. I don’t hate them, but am not a big fan of any of the Celosias.
The Petunia, however, is a different matter. I have grown petunias in the “Morn” series previously and they have a delicate coloration that is very appealing. Petunias give dependable and beautiful color all summer- no matter how difficult the conditions become. So I am very happy to see this superior selection. It will be on my own list for garden purchases this spring. ” Pink shading to creamy white with a yellow throat”.pink morn petunia
The other promising selection is the vinca, Pacifica Burgundy Halo’. I have always preferred vincas to impatiens for the partial shade areas of my garden. That is because the impatiens needs much more moisture than my climate area allows, and vinca gives a similar appearance with much prettier leaves. As the article puts it, they have “proven heat and drought tolerance”. You need this in prairie conditions. This new offering is described as ” Burgundy with large white center” and so it will give the overall effect of variegation that such contrasts provide the eye at long range. The darker color means you might want it in the sun- vinca grows in sunshine and part shade.It is a lovely addition to groups, such as a container with motley combinations of plants.
The pepper I wasn’t interested in because I never grow hot peppers. In 2006 there was a pepper called Pepper F1 ‘Carmen’, I was interested in that one. It is reported that “‘Carmen’ peppers are sweet even when immature or green. One of the improved traits is the earliness to ripe red.
crossposted from Ilona’s GardenGate Gazebo – the news part of my website.