Among the 2011 plant introductions from Sakata are (clockwise, from top
left) Antique Blue Cape Daisy Osteospermum, SunPatiens Spreading Corona,
SuperCal Cherry x Petchoa and Wonderland Poppies.
SAKATA recently announced six 2011 plant introductions. Here are the highlights of each new offering:
Antique Blue Cape Daisy Osteospermum offers a unique lavender blue-purple bloom. New for 2010-2011, this addition extends the company's Cape Daisy line known for novelty colors, patterns and forms. Large flowers on compact plants with good branching are well suited to 6 inches and larger containers. Flowers remain open on cloudy days and plants have good heat tolerance and garden performance. Available in limited quantities Week 40.
SunPatiens has taken the market by storm, and this new color will be no exception in 2011. SunPatiens Spreading Corona will be fantastic in 10- or 12-inch baskets, gallons or mixed containers. Matched in habit to Spreading Salmon, Spreading Corona reaches a height and spread of 36-48 inches in the garden, and, like all the other SunPatiens, Corona thrives in full sun or part shade as well as humid conditions. Gardeners will be impressed by the vigor of this plant and the tremendous three season performance—spring through a hard frost. Available Week 40.
SuperCal Cherry x Petchoa has the same strong traits as other SuperCal varieties and brings a unique cherry red hue to the series that now has seven colors. Known for its unique colors and large flowers, SuperCal is an ideal combination of petunia and calibrachoa traits; it is pH tolerant, day length neutral and can be grown cool. The foliage is not sticky so flowers drop easily from the plant as they age and plants hold up well in all kinds of weather. This plant is compact, with a slightly flat and spreading habit and is a wonderful choice for mixed or monoculture baskets and containers. Available Week 40.
Growers asked, and Sakata listened! Now, in addition to the popular mix, Wonderland Poppies, Papaver nudicaule, will also be available as individual colors. Choose from Yellow, Pink Shades, White and Orange and be ready to offer an ideal option for showy color blocks of these consumer favorites. This is also a strong plant to recommend to landscape customers looking for mass plantings of solid color in the landscape. Known for its wind and cold tolerance, Wonderland can be shipped with pansies and other cool crops. It is a natural choice for early spring sales in the Midwest and East and for late winter and spring sales in the West. Plentiful 4-inch blooms stand proud on sturdy thick stems that reach 10 inches in height.
What’s not to love about the Zinnia Profusion series? Vigorous with strong disease resistance, Profusion is long- blooming, performs well in many types of weather and in a wide range of climates and is highly heat- and drought- tolerant. It is outstanding in mass plantings, providing carefree color all season long. With the addition of Yellow in 2009, Sakata is now able to offer Zinnia Profusion Sunrise Mix—colorful single blooms in a combination of Yellow, Fire and White and a second new mix of singles Profusion 7 Color Mix with Yellow, White, Fire, Orange, Apricot, Coral Pink and Cherry. Profusion is perfect for spring through summer sales and is an excellent choice for fall color in the south and west. Low cost production input and an adaptability to finish in various finish sizes—from packs to 12-inch decorative containers—make Profusion a solid choice for growers. Plants will spread up to 2 feet across with a height of 12-18 inches.
Pansy Majestic Giants II Blue Jeans is the newest addition in a series that has withstood the test of time. Blue Jeans offers unique multi-hued denim coloring with darker upper petals and is an early bloomer. As with all Majestic Giants II, it has the best basal branching in the large flowered class, a compact habit and is excellent for spring and fall production. Each bi-color bloom will be 3-4 inches in width on a plant reaching 6-8 inches in height.