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THECOMMERCIAL GREENHOUSEGROWER • APRIL 2017
PRIMROSE REVIEW •
PolyanthusPianoRose.
Arrestingnewcomer: Scirocco, seenat IPM in January.
POLYANTHUSPLUS
Formany years theCrescendo series, fromBenary, has
dominated thepolyanthus scene. Its excellence—three
colours have receivedAwards of GardenMerit after trials
atWisley – has unfortunatelymade it difficult for varieties
introducedmore recently togain asmuch attention as
they deserve.
TheStella series, bredby EbbingLohaus andprominently
on thebenches at theBallColegrave trials is a case in
point. It has adifferent colour range fromCrescendo, as
well as darker foliage. The newStellaPinkChampagne is
the tenth colour in the series. Sales of Stella haveboomed
in the last few years, saidBallColegrave’sPeterMitchell.
LikeCrescendo, theStella varieties are hardy enough for
autumn sales as greenplants to set out in the open and
establishwell for their flower display in spring.
As seen at the trials, someStella varietieswere shown
to advantage in an added value format, threeplants in a
3.0litrepot. For this latewinter/ early springproduct line
BallColegrave also successfully demonstrated thegrowing
of twoother series in the sameway. One of these is the
very large-floweredShowstopper series for whichYellow
is a new colour this season. Another series tobe seen at
the company’s trialswas themore compact Piano, bred
byBenary, andgoodboth for autumn sales in flower and
for spring.
For sheer flower number, theEbbingLohaus one-off
ElpiroYellow far outdid any other polyanthus variety tobe
seenwithBallColegrave. It is also strongly scented. The
individual flowers, smaller and slightly different in shape
fromother polyanthus varieties, areborne indensely
packed clusters.
Similarly free-flowering, with smaller flowers still, areRudy
Raes’ Veristar varieties, Yellow and Lemon. These have a
closer-to-the-wild look about them, with a special appeal
to some consumers for that reason. And theymatch
Crescendo inhardiness, too.
Closer tonature is alsowhat is special about Florensis’
new and innovativeHiddenTreasures concept. This is
amixture of varieties in species includingPrimula veris
(Cowslip), chosen todeliver adefinitemessage to the
consumer that spring has come. The colour range is
mainly fromwhite through cream and yellow, together with
stronger colours such as violet.
season, Syngenta introducedMitra Late, whichwill add to
the competition for Husky. Paradiso is also aquite recent
introduction. Itmarked the entry onto the scene of a new
breeder of primroses, SchoneveldBreeding. It is now
available in three versions, with a compact sub-series,
ParadisoMini, andParadiso Late as variants of the large-
floweredoriginal series. AmongParadiso youngplant
suppliers in theUK areSchneider andNewey.
Just over the horizon, andon view at theBallColegrave
trials, was the new seriesOptic, bredbyPanAmerican
Seed and scheduled for 2018 introduction. It ismore
compact and smaller-leaved thanFruelo, with a closely
similar flowering time. It will suit theUKpack trade, said
PeterMitchell and it includes two unique colours, Copper
andBurgundyBicolour.
