The world of marketing is always blowing the horn about “what’s new, what’s the latest thing, what you just have to have, etc.” In the horticultural sector, it is no different. I am already receiving catalogues from my suppliers that are promoting what’s new for next year. Sheesh!! Let me get through this one!!
Now that I have 15 years + of history in this industry, I’ve seen lots of “new things” over those years – some great, some not so great. The first black petunia was introduced in 2010 with tons of hype as to how wonderful it was so I bought into it – wrong!! It didn’t have a great shape and the color was off. On the other hand, there are a lot of lovelies that come our way every year. This year, one of our growers has introduced a new bacopa “MegaCopa” which is showing itself to be a beauty for many reasons.
My personal favorite “bordeaux” petunia was introduced in 2005 by Ken Lander in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. Say “yeah” for the hometeam! Not only is this the best petunia on the market in my opinion, the Proven Winners line of top notch plants has listed it as their choice for “Annual of the Year 2018” This petunia came about from years of doing vegetative cuttings and trying to find the perfect traits that this plant now provides.
The horticulture industry is just amazing as far as the development, pursuit and presentation of their product – a sector of the fashion industry, for sure, it tries to win the favor of people just like you who are drawn to beautiful and special things.
Another great example of new breeding happened maybe 7, or so, years ago when the “interspecific” geranium was introduced. This geranium is a mixture between an ivy and a zonal (“common upright type) and has the best attributes of both. Each year, there are more and more colors in this type of geranium as the breeders develop the product. This link gives a little article on the Red Caliope & Caliente series of interspecifics (we have both here for sale): And who would have thought a pansy would trail 3 feet or more?? Sure enough – in 2012, the Wave Pansy hit the market and we love, love, love it! Every year, there are new colors added to the line.
Last word on “new” – we are so excited to have the new line of herbs & veggies from Sweet Valley which was a company that started around the same time, back in the day, that I started Herbs Plus (growing and selling herbs) in Lake Ainslie. A great variety of product and they are looking just great. Come by and check them out: http://www.sweetvalleyherbs.ca/