2017 Spring Trials Day 4: Scents, volcanoes and a helicopter ride

Day 4 started off in Salinas at the American Takii location, which also hosted HMA Plants, Philips, Hilverdakooij, OHP and Mycorrhizal Applications.

American Takii's greenhouse was full of fragrance with its new petunia release, Evening Scentsation, a blue petunia with a scent that has notes of rose and honey, and was "abuzz" with pollinator-friendly plants and their mascot, "Pollinator." Spoiler alert: He'll bee back (see photo).

A volcano of succulents and annuals greeted us as we walked into the second greenhouse. HMA Plants is known for the 100 varieties of succulents they produce through Floraplant, but they also displayed plants they have available through license agreements with breeders like Suntory Flowers and PlantHaven.

OHP has undergone a number of changes in the past year, and Dave Barcel was on hand for an update, a look into the progress being made in the company's PGR and herbicide research, and details about a new partnership.

Mycorrhizal Applications' trials demonstrated how the usage of mycorrhizae can contribute to the resilience and root systems of plants.

Hilverdakooij also highlighted MOOODZ echinacea, which does not require vernalization and has a short growing window of 12 to 13 weeks.

At Speedling, our second stop of the day, we saw ABZ Seeds, Hem Genetics, Lambert, Thompson & Morgan and Plant Source International.

The breeders showed off new additions, including a determinate patio tomato with heart-shaped fruits called Sweet Valentines (Hem Genetics), and Cosmos 'Brownie,' that has a maroon color and chocolatey fragrance (Thompson & Morgan).

ABZ Seeds showcased a 2016 introduction and AAS winner, Delizz strawberry, which offers related packaging and POP and is now available to consumers.

At our last stop, we learned more about Benary+, a new initiative that offers growers the opportunity to purchase Benary seed and Volmary unrooted cuttings directly through Benary. The goal is to foster relationships with growers, provide more ordering options, and better understand what both their grower clients and the market want.

We ended the day on a high note with a helicopter ride, courtesy of Benary, and got a birds' eye view of vast berry and other crop production.

Catch more highlights from Syngenta Flowers, Pacific Plug & Liner and Proven Winners in our day 5 recap.

Day 4 Videos:

• Bringing scent back to petunias
• New developments and research
• Direct to growers
• More than succulents
• A tomato with heart
• New and improved seed varieties