Plant Performance Review

<< PREV

Image 1 of 2

NEXT >>

Begonia Big provides vidid color throughout the summer.

The Best of 2008

How the plants that you purchase at Wenke Greenhouses perform in your garden is important to me and everyone who works at Wenke Greenhouses. We spend a lot of time talking about what varieties perform the best and how we can grow them for maximum performance. I traveled to several trial gardens this summer in addition to our own trials and my own yard. I'd like to highlight the plants that were truly outstanding.

Something interesting that I noticed while gathering my notes for this article was that I had written about several of these items before. You might recall the article from the March 2008 e-news titled "Best New Annuals for 2008". Many of these new plants are the ones that really stood out at the trials. In the February 2008 e-news, we had the article titled "Proven Performers –Plants that took the heat in 2007". Several of these items were also great performers again even though our weather was cooler overall this summer than last. Both of these articles are archived on our Web site for your reference. As we choose new plants for 2009, garden performance will again be a very important factor.

Rudbeckia Tiger Eye: This plant was new in 2008. It was included in our Chicagoland Gardening program because it was chosen by Chicagoland Magazine as a top performing new annual. I saw this plant in several locations and it looked perfect everywhere. It appears to be extremely tolerant of different soil conditions, weather conditions and levels of care. It does need full sun. It looks similar to the perennial varieties but it is an annual. The benefit as an annul is that it will be in color from May through October in the Midwest when most of the perennial types only bloom later in the season.

Begonia Big: This plant was new in 2008. Due to some production challenges, we ended up having only a limited amount of this new variety toward the end of the season. I was impressed with the large flowers that are highly visible. The plant is strong and tolerant of various conditions including shade or sun. Dragon Wing Begonias have been one of my most recommended plants for several years. Begonia Big is similar and has significantly more flowers. There were several new begonias this year and more coming in 2009. All the begonias looked very good however Begonia Big stood out to me as being the best.

Argyranthemum: There are several varieties of argyranthemum and some performed better than others. In the past, I have always cautioned people who asked if this plant would last all summer long. I'm excited to now be able to recommend it as a long lasting annual. The yellow with single flower variety performed the best. We had it in our Plants that Work program and will have it again next spring. Some call it Butterfly and others call it Fizz Citronelle and others call it Sunlight. Argyranthemum does need full sun and does best when watered regularly enabling it to bloom all summer. If you have not tried this plant before, consider giving it a try next summer.

Celosia Fresh Look: Again, there are several varieties of celosia and some performed better than others. We grow Fresh Look in the 4" pots rather than flats because it is more vigorous than the types we have in flats. That's probably what makes this variety stand out in garden performance.

The above items were my top picks for outstanding garden performance. If you'd like to share your favorites, please email me at lisa@wenkegreenhouses.com.