August 2020 - 44

vaughn's view
BY VAUGHN FLETCHER
SALIENT 2021
ANNUAL INTRODUCTIONS:
This month, we take a " virtual " look at the top trial performers at Young's Plant Farm,
Metrolina Greenhouses and the University of Georgia.
Southern Style
I
have attended the Southern
Plant Trials for well over
10 years, and I never
could have imagined missing my
June visit. Due to the impact of
COVID-19 and travel restrictions,
I decided to stay home this year.
All of my previous articles were
based on my observations and
evaluations and included my
photographs.
This year, I collaborated with
Penny Merritt-Price, trial manager
at Young's Plant Farm in Alabama;
Vaughn Fletcher
is president of
Fletcher Consulting.
He has been in the
horticulture industry
since 1971, working in
many areas including
landscaping, garden
center and greenhouse
production, greenhouse
and nursery sales and
sales management.
He can be reached at
vfletcher9@gmail.com.
Lida Sladkova, product development
director at Metrolina in North Carolina;
and Brandon Christopher Coker from
the University of Georgia. They were
helpful and cooperative in selecting
many of their favorite new introductions
based on color and performance, and
they provided high-quality photographs
for my consideration. After reviewing
many notable varieties, I selected what
I consider to be the most remarkable. I
appreciate their passion, knowledge, and
contributions to our horticultural industry
and the information they provided, which
I am sharing with you in this article.
1. NEMESIA 'NESIA
BANANABERRY'
Danziger
There are many new nemesia
introductions for 2021 including the
new Tutti Frutti and BananaBerry,
which are part of the Nesia series from
44 AUGUST 2020 GPNMAG.COM
Danziger. In previous articles, I have
highlighted two nemesia standouts,
and they were both Nesia varieties,
Sunshine and Denim Blue. The series has
many attributes including uniformity,
dark foliage, earliness, unique bicolors
and multicolors, and a strong upright
habit. Why have I focused on this
nemesia series? The Nesias offer some
of the most heat-tolerant varieties in
the market. The series performs in the
south as well as the northern regions
until August with a floriferous canopy.
There are now 10 colors in the series,
and the multicolored BananaBerry was
eye-catching with strong branching and
abundant flowering in the Metrolina trial.
2. SALVIA 'WHITE FLAME'
Ball FloraPlant
This genus has become ubiquitous
in the market, and for good reason.
It offers tremendous diversity in
size, foliage texture, flower color and
production application. Benefits to the
consumer are heat tolerance, persistent
flowering, and attractiveness to bees and
hummingbirds. Salvia 'White Flame' is a
new interspecific for 2021 and matches
Mystic Spires in height. It offers an
abundance of long white flower spikes
that possess a gray calyx and a white
corolla positioned above the foliage
canopy. This variety matures at 24 to
30 inches with an upright habit and will
provide a low maintenance plant with
prolific white flowers for the garden,
2
1
especially in the evening light. It was one
of the most colorful and unique salvias in
the Metrolina trial.
3. RUDBECKIA HIRTA 'AMARILLO
GOLD'
Benary
This new All-America Selections and
Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner for 2020
http://www.GPNMAG.COM
August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2020
