“To thoroughly know seeds and the relative value of their products, both of his own and his competitor’s stock, to learn the comparative merits of newly introduced or proposed novelties, carefully conducted trial grounds are to the progressive seedsman, and his assistants, the open book of nature.” – W. Atlee Burpee, The Seedsman’s Trial Grounds, read before the convention of the American Seed Trade Association, August 14, 1893
As in Burpee’s time, trial gardens today provide an essential service to the flower breeding industry. The purpose of the Cornell Annual Trials Program is to evaluate the performance of various annual ornamental flower and foliage plant cultivars under our unique environmental conditions in Ithaca, NY. (USDA Hardiness Zone 5b/6a). Our plant material is sent to us as seed or rooted cuttings, and grown in the greenhouse until transplanting. Once in the ground, cultivars are evaluated every two weeks. The data collected is summarized and sent back to participating breeding companies for use in determining future breeding priorities or to provide growing information to distributors in our region.
In addition to providing valuable information to breeding companies, the trial gardens are a living classroom for students, teachers, extension educators, and the public. We welcome visitors and hope you enjoy the trial gardens as much as we do!
The trial process
Cultivars are shipped to us in late December or early January. The trial manager develops a sowing schedule based on individual cultivar requirements; seed sowing can start as early as February. Rooted cuttings arrive in early April, and are transplanted into 4” pots. In the greenhouse, plants are given fertilizer and appropriate care to maintain desirable growth habits. Beds are tilled in May and an all-purpose, slow-release fertilizer is added to the soil. To avoid all possibility of frost damage, planting commences the first week in June. Once in the ground, cultivars are mulched and labeled. During the growing season, plants are fertilized once a week, and beds are weeded as necessary. To keep the garden conditions as close to that of a typical homeowner, we do not take “extreme measures” when caring for the plants; we may deadhead or conduct judicious pruning, but care is minimal. This allows us to get a true representation of how the cultivars will perform in a home garden. Every two weeks after the plants are established, cultivars are photographed and evaluated for uniformity, flowering impact, foliage appearance, and overall landscape value. At the end of the season, the trial manager summarizes the data and sends this information back to participating companies. Plants are left in the ground through most of the fall, and are removed prior to winter.