Note: Information for this trials report was provided by Barbara Laschkewitsch, Research Specialist in the North Dakota State University Department of Plant Sciences.
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The biggest challenge at the North Dakota State University Horticulture Gardens bedding plant trials this year was the weather. We started the season out very wet and ended it very dry. Due to the wet conditions, planting was delayed by about a week, and some of the plants were in standing water from an inch-plus of rain after planting. Powdery mildew was also worse this year than previous years, especially on the Zinnia elegans. Once the rain stopped, we had warm, humid weather for much of the summer. As of September 25, we only had about a tenth of an inch of rain (30-year average is 2.73 inches) so it is very dry, but the sun annuals have drip irrigation.
There were 220 cultivars of sun annuals and 17 cultivars of shade annuals in our trials this year. I continue to be impressed by the Solarscape series of hybrid impatiens from PanAmerican Seed. Others that I felt did really well this year were Ptilotus ‘Matilda’ (Benary), Agastache ‘Summerlong Coral’ and ‘Summerlong Lemon’ (Darwin Perennials), Verbena ‘Vanity’ (Van Hemert Seeds), and Savannah grass ‘Melinis’ (Hoffman Nursery).
We held our annual “Plants, Local Foods and Outdoor Spaces” garden event on July 30, but hot, humid conditions kept the crowd a bit smaller this year. Attendees were able to pick their two favorite sun annuals if they were interested, and the winners this year were Verbena ‘Vanity’ and Eustoma ‘Arena III Apricot’ (Johnny’s Selected Seeds) with five votes each. Many cultivars received one or two flags, so there was a wide range of preferences.
Find more 2024 field trials information here.
