The start of our trek on the fourth day of the California Spring Trials took us to Dummen in San Luis Obispo. At last year’s Spring Trials, it was Dummen’s new extra large flowering Magnum New Guinea impatiens series that garnered the attention. This year it’s the company’s new Red Fox Dahlia XXL series with plants that produce flowers approaching 6-inches in diameter. Nine colors (red, white, white blush, two yellows, two pinks and two oranges) are available. These heat tolerant, well-branched plants can be used in specimen containers or as the centerpiece of a combination container.
In Salinas, we saw what Sakata and MasterTag had to offer. Sakata Home Grown is a new division of Sakata Seed America created to serve companies that supply home gardens in the United States and Canada. The division, which launches Sept. 1, will work with a variety of companies, including seed suppliers, growers who produce vegetable transplants and growers who produce vegetables for sale to retailers. Varieties that will be offered have been selected for flavor, appearance, disease resistance and ease of growth. A couple of the varieties that will be offered include: Red Robin tomato, which is an early container-type that has superior flavor, and the fast-growing Santo coriander (cilantro), which is available as screened seed to avoid problems with disease pathogens.
Our third stop was in Salinas at American Takii, which showed off two new All-America Selections winners: Glamour Red flowering kale and Summer Jewel Red salvia. Glamour Red is the first shiny leaf bedding-type kale. Its leaves, which color up at 55°F-60°F, protect the plant against water loss. It is well-suited for production in 4-inch pots and larger. Summer Jewel Red salvia is a compact, well-branching plant. It blooms early, seven to nine weeks from sowing, and often throughout the gardening season. It also attracts hummingbirds.
We ended the day with Tom Lukens at Golden State Bulb Growers in Moss Landing. Lukens talked about how his company has conducted research to assist growers in extending the post harvest life of calla flowers. Lukens said the company has done extensive trials using gibberellic acid sprays on potted plants as they begin to flower. Company research has shown a light mist applied when one to two flowers are showing color can extend the life of the flowers by an additional week.