A perennial fixture

The fourth annual Darwin Perennials Day saw the introduction of 31 new varieties, courtesy of Darwin Perennials and its sister companies.

The event had close to 30 suppliers of plants, plastics, and soil companies. Ball officials said attendance was somewhere between the 350 and 400 mark, despite the presence of swirling storm clouds and sporadic sheets of rain.

Mike Klopmeyer, general manager for Darwin Perennials, says the event was conceived as a sort of [California Spring Trials (CAST)] for perennials. “When you go to [CAST] you see a lot of rollout of new annual varieties, but you won’t see many perennials. There is no central location on perennials,” he says. “We’re leveraging our capabilities to put varieties in ground (to get overwintering in Zone 5), our capability to get new genetics and introduce them into the market, and more importantly we’re bringing in suppliers. We’re trying to create a central location for perennials.”

Klopmeyer believes that the presence of suppliers has helped increase event attendance. The inaugural Perennials Day recorded attendance between 100 and 150 people. In three years, the event has more than doubled its attendance.

“It’s an opportunity for growers to hear a talk about what plants they should be growing in their program, see a product presentation so they can understand what’s new, and then go to their favorite supplier and say ‘Hey, I had a problem with this last year and I’d like to do something different for next year.’ And then they can have that personal interaction with their supplier,” Klopmeyer says.

Another reason for the attendance increase was the unusual number of introductions. Klopmeyer noted that 31 introductions are easily the most Darwin has made in a single season. For comparison, last year’s Perennials Day featured 13 or 14 introductions and Klopmeyer says next year’s event will likely feature about 15.

“We have a lot of different breeders, a very good product development manager, and we’ve had the opportunity to look at some very good genetics (both from our program and from around the world),” he says.

Jeff Gibson, the landscape business manager for Ball, noted several important varieties that were being introduced. He said that the top five landscape plants right now, are daylilies, hostas, salvias, echinacea, and heuchera. Gibson believes that echinacea and heuchera are becoming more popular for both growers and landscapers.

Gibson honed in on the Double Scoop series. The echinacea grow 22 to 24 inches in height and bloom from June to August. Double Scoops are hardy in Zones 4 to 9. At Perennials Day, Darwin was debuting Echinacea Double Scoop Mandarin, which overwinters well.

Darwin was also debuting two additions to the Heuchera Carnival series, including ‘Carnival Black Olive’ and ‘Carnival Candy Apple.’ The Carnival series grows between 10 and 12 inches in height and blooms from April to May. The plants are hardy in Zones 4 to 9. Gibson believes the mounding habits will do well in shady landscapes.

Beyond echinacea and heuchera, Darwin also debuted Salvia ‘Blue Marvel.’ The plant blooms from March to September, growing between 10 and 12 inches in height. ‘Blue Marvel’ is hardy in Zones 4 to 9 and features extremely large flowers.