A Look Back At CAST 2019
The 2019 California Spring Trials offered a great opportunity to launch our new line-up of varieties and concepts for 2020, and meet with many of our sales representatives and grower customers.
One of the standouts from the trials was our new Zone 5 Digitalis Arctic Fox Rose. Many digitalis on the market are Zone 7 at best, and this gives much needed cold hardiness to our Northern growers and consumers. For an in-depth look at all new varieties showed at CAST check out our New Variety Presentation here.
Last September I came home to find the front porch of my suburban Chicago home decorated with pumpkins, stalks of corn, a few bales of hay, and four big round fall-colored empty pots. My wife had started decorating for the Fall Season! All we needed to complete the front porch display were plants to fill up those empty pots. How about using perennials for fall decorating?
Perennials are natural late-season items with long flowering windows. They survive first frosts AND offer consumers, retailers and growers more choice for the fall season. Also, with new breeding in perennials, we can now plant and ship fresh perennials in fall to retail. Our display at CAST featured just a few of the items recommended for production for fall sales. Check out our Guide for Fall Flowering Vegetative perennials listed here for more information.
Darwin Perennials also launched a patio herb and perennial program called Herb-a-Licious. Today’s gardener wants to use plants that enhance their living spaces… right on the back patio! Using all herbs and perennials available from Darwin Colombia, we developed six easy-to-schedule-and-produce combinations with fun consumer-friendly names. These “Plants with a Purpose” recipes help to repel mosquitos (“Buzz Off”) or offer great flavors to any backyard grilling session (“Spice Island”). Check out these recipes and more detailed info on our plantogram sheet here.
Didn’t make it to California Spring Trials? No problem. You can see our new varieties, herb combos, plus our overwintered comparison gardens on Darwin Perennials Day Wednesday, June 19. Sign up at www.darwinperennialsday.com.