I literally just left the 9th Annual (not to be mistaken for bedding plants) Darwin Perennials Day. Besides catching my flight to my next destination, I couldn't wait to share a few of the highlights of what I saw with you.

I must be honest, due to my travel schedule, I wasn't able to attend the entire event, but I was able to arrive the day before and walk the trial beds and discuss the Darwin Perennials and Kieft Seed perennial programs and recent introductions with Leland Toering, Sales and Marketing Manager for Darwin, and Chris Fifo, Product Representative  for DarwinKieft Seed. I'd like to thank Leland and Chris for the time they spent with me. You're both awesome!

One of the main attractions for the 300 to 400 attendees is the Zone 5 overwintered trial beds. The beds are largely used to demonstrate cold hardiness and landscape performance of various perennials. Several of the beds are used for comparing the performance of several cultivars within the same genus. 

In addition to the perennial trial beds, many of the new offerings were presented in special displays. There were over 25 perennial suppliers exhibiting their perennial plug, liner and bareroot offerings.

Besides all the great perennials on display and the purchasing and networking opportunities, there were also two great educational sessions at Darwin Perennials Day: “Top-Rated Plants and Trials from the Chicago Botanic Garden” by Richard Hawke and “Grow Like a Pro” by Chris Fifo and Dr. Todd Cavins. 

Here are a few perennials I saw at Darwin Perennials Day that stood out to me:

Achillea Milly Rock Red

Milly Rock Red has a nice, compact mounding habit reaching just 10- to 12-in. high and across. It's well branched and develops attractive clusters of red flowers with yellow centers. Milly Rock Red blooms from late spring until fall. Give Milly Rock Red a try. Hardy to Zone 4.

Armeria Dreameria Dream Weaver

 Dream Weaver has tons of potential. It's easy to grow, blooms frost to frost and is heat tolerant. Dream Weaver and the other Dreameria cultivars are definitely breeding breakthroughs in their class. Wait, there's one more game-changing attribute. Originally, it was classified as being hardy to Zone 6, but after surviving the Zone 5 winter in Chicago, it's being re-classified as a Zone 5 perennial. With the presence of its numerous and season long rose-pink flowers and aforementioned attributes, Armeria Dreameria Dream Weaver is a great perennial for growers and landscapers alike.

Echinacea Sombrero Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice is one of the newest additions to the colorful Sombrero series of echinacea from Darwin Perennials. Although it isn't visible in the image I took from a young flowering plant (left), check out the white ring at the base of the flower petals near the cones in the image on the right. This bicolored appearance really adds to the appeal of the already attractive bright yellow flowers. Hardy to Zone 4.

Salvia Salvatore Blue

It may be hard to tell from this image, but Salvatore Blue has an incredibly deep blue coloration that really pops in the landscape. This seed cultivar from Kieft Seeds is an excellent alternative to the vegetative salvia on the market. Salvatore Blue has tall flower spikes, blooms for an extended period and flowers early (critical daylength for flowering is just 10 hours). These attributes make it a great candidate for spring perennial programs and the landscape. It's definitely worth trying. By the way, it also is a Fleuroselect Novelty plant winner. Hardy to Zone 5.

Darwin Perennials is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Karl Batschke, Global Perennial Product Manager for Darwin Perennials, shared this comment about this achievement: "A decade of growth and lots of coloring the world!"

Back in February 2009, Darwin Perennials was established shortly after Ball Horticultural Company's acquisition of Darwin Plants in Hillegom, Holland. Darwin Perennials is the vegetative side of Ball's perennial business. Shortly after the Darwin Plants acquisition, Ball acquired Kieft Seed to greatly broaden the perennial offerings of PanAmerican Seed Company.

If you're like me, the lines between these sister companies can seem blurry at times, but it's very clear that Darwin Perennials is a worldwide leader in the development and sales of high-quality perennial plants.

Congrats, to Darwin Perennials on the first 10 years, I'm looking forward to seeing what the next decade will bring. 

After visiting this early summer event, I wanted to remind you of a few other notable summer trade events that you might be interested in attending.

Cultivate'19

July 13-16, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. Visit www.cultivate19.org for event and registration information.

PPA National Symposium

July 28th to August 2, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois

Although you can register through July 21, 2019, this Friday—June 21— is the last day to receive the Early Bird discount!

Click here for event information.

The Farwest Show

August 21-23, 2019 in Portland, Oregon.
Visit farwestshow.com for complete event information.

Visit the websites above for event information or click here to see my original announcement of these summer events.

Starvation is a pretty serious thing. Not only do millions of Americans go hungry every day, but every day millions of plants also suffer from this same fate.

 
Hardy hibiscus with deficiency symptoms at a retail location.

I understand that hunger is a serious matter that all too many families face and there's no comparison between plants and humans. Although, I'm not focusing on starvation in humans here, I do urge you to increase your awareness of this issue, and if possible, help those in your communities and throughout the world from living with hunger and starvation. Here are a few resources I thought you'd find useful:

Feeding America

National Geographic - Hunger

DoSomething.org

Why Hunger

I really hate to see plants with nutrient deficiencies at retail locations. This doesn't provide consumers with a good impression about the plants and greatly inhibits the ability for them to be sold.

It's a shame to see this happen. I suspect the deficiency symptoms on these hibiscus were present prior to shipping them to the retail locations. However, it's not uncommon for perennials being fertilized with liquid feed (water-soluble fertilizer) during production to quickly show deficiency symptoms once they're at retail and have been irrigated with clear water (even just a couple of times).

To lessen the chance of nutrient deficiencies at retail, consider giving the plants a dose of higher fertility rates when using water-soluble fertilizer just prior to shipping to give the plants a longer shelf life before symptoms arise. Growers utilizing controlled-release fertilizer are less prone to experiencing deficiencies in retail, however, this can still occur following heavy rainfall events that leach the nutrients from the root zone just prior to shipping.

If every retail location had the ability to fertilize their plants with a low rate of fertilizer, many of these "off-color" plants would remain a healthy coloration. We only have one chance to make an impression, so let's do what we can to avoid starvation and make it a good one.

AmericanHort is hosting an informative one-hour Glyphosate Update webinar next Monday, June 24, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. As you're probably already aware, herbicides containing glyphosate have come under some scrutiny lately regarding its safety to applicators. Are these claims warranted? Join the webinar to find out.

The webinar will be a panel discussion with Ms. Chris Olinger with EPA; Dr. Scott Senseman, weed scientist from University of Tennessee; Dr. Jeff Derr, weed scientist from Virginia Tech; and Dr. Joe Neal, weed scientist from North Carolina State University. Come learn about the EPA’s position, the mountain of scientific evidence that supports its safety and uses in the green industry, including the pros and cons of glyphosate alternatives.

If you have used or would like to use herbicides containing glyphosate in the future, I encourage you to attend. Click here to register.