Bluegrass Lane annual flower trials

annual flower trials at Bluegrass LaneIf you’re planning what annual flowers to grow in your garden or containers this season, check out the 2011 gallery at the Bluegrass Lane Annual Flower Trials website.

Last year was the eighth season of testing new and soon-to-be-released varieties. This information is used by the industry to develop better plants for consumers. Better plants mean happier customers, and potentially more sales.

The research is led by Bill Miller, with trial garden coordinator Melissa Kitchen and crew of summer interns. They evaluated 225 varieties from seven companies in 2011.

New last year were trials of more than 20 combos — mixtures of plants developed by breeding companies to help take the guesswork out of deciding which flowers make beautiful combinations for gardens and containers. These combos help instill confidence by pre-selecting two or three varieties that work well together, giving a blended look. They have similar growing requirements and may feature complementary colors or themes. Examples include: hot colors featuring reds, oranges and yellows; nautical themes of blues; or the patriotic red, white and blue. This is a hugely popular trend, with each breeding company having their own line of designer combinations.

Visit the Annual Flower Trials website.

View top-rated plants from 2011 trials.

2011 annual flower trials at Bluegrass Lane
2011 annual flower trials at Bluegrass Lane

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *