April 2019 - 36

vaughn's view
BY VAUGHN FLETCHER
1
Green Fuse Botanicals -
ALL STAR SUMMER PERFORMERS
Entered into numerous trials across the country in 2018, these annuals
and perennials stood out with impressive color and performance.
G
Vaughn Fletcher
is president of
Fletcher Consulting.
He has been in the
horticulture industry
since 1971, working in
many areas including
landscaping, garden
center and greenhouse
production, greenhouse
and nursery sales and
sales management.
He can be reached at
vfletcher9@gmail.com.
reen Fuse Botanicals has made significant
wide ranging annual and perennial vegetative
introductions since its formation in 2009. The
partnership with independent breeders has given them
the opportunity to promote and market a diverse annual
and perennial product line and a wide range of dayneutral
perennials in the First Light perennial program.
The focus of this program is first-year flowering
perennials, which require no vernalization and are easily
programmable for spring sales.
Green Fuse understands the importance of public
and private trials for evaluating plant performance and
enters many annuals and perennials each year. The
company is committed to participating in regional trials
and utilizing trial results for marketing and promotion to
the industry. I will describe many current and new annuals and
perennials I saw and evaluated in trials last summer.
I will begin with the First Light perennials in last year's trials,
and then I will describe annuals in the Optimum program.
1. BUDDLEJA DAVIDI LEAH SERIES
The evolution of buddleja cultivars has been remarkable
since davidi seeds were delivered to Kew Gardens from China in
1774. We now have more than 100 species of davidi available.
In earlier articles I wrote about many outstanding buddleja
introductions from multiple breeders over the past few years.
We now have a multitude of series and standalone varieties with
assorted colors and sizes.
The new Leah series, consisting of Violet, White and Blue, was
introduced for 2018 and was in southern and northern trials
last year. This is a compact, well-branched, dense series with
large racemes that provided an excellent flower canopy last
summer. Based on what I saw in the trials, this series will have
excellent application in gallon programs. More color additions
will be introduced in the next few years. The series matures at
18 to 24 inches and is hardy to Zone 5.
36 APRIL 2019 GPNMAG.COM
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2. DELOSPERMA DELMARA SERIES
The development and introduction of new delosperma
varieties has been prolific the last few years. It is an important
genus in the industry for its attributes including heat and
drought tolerance, hardiness, flower profusion and multiple
production applications. I described the Delmara series in my
Spring Premier article last July.
Introduced in 2018, it is part of the First Light perennial
program and was trialed throughout the country. Comprised
of four varieties, they are characterized by large vibrant eyecatching
flowers with a mounded, dense habit maturing at 4 to
6 inches. This series was ever blooming from early spring in the
south through autumn in the north. Application this spring is
in large packs, quarts and as an integral component of mixed
succulent bowls.
http://www.GPNMAG.COM
April 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2019
