This week, I have a special challenge submitted by one of our loyal Perennial Pulse subscribers. When I received the image below, I was asked if I knew what was going on with the sedum. I must admit that I failed the diagnostic challenge. Will you? Take a look at this image:

What do you see? I think there are a few things like nutritional disorders and spray damage (phytotoxicity) we can rule out immediately. That somewhat narrows down the field of possibilities. Since I didn’t have any clues to work from, you won’t have any either. Now we’re all playing on a level playing field. Take another look at the picture above, enjoy the newsletter, think about the possible causes and I’ll disclose the answer before signing off.

Fleuroselect recently announced their 2022 Gold Medal winners and one of them is a promising new perennial. Winners are awarded to plants that are breeding breakthroughs and received outstanding scores on innovation, beauty and garden performance.

Myosotis alpestris Bellamy Blue

Bellamy Blue from Floragran received a Fleuroselect Gold Medal for 2022. Bellamy Blue offers first-year flowering without vernalization and an innovative dark blue hue. I’d still consider it a spring-season perennial, but without the need for a cold treatment, Bellamy Blue can be grown and sold for a longer period than previous cultivars on the market. I expect it to be hardy to at least Zone 4.

It’s been a long time since new variety trials have held in-person events. It feels like an eternity. The wait is nearly over. Costa Farms is hosting the 2021 Season Premiere at the Costa Farms Trial Garden in Miami, Florida, March 4-5, 2021.　

Sure, there will be a few annuals on display—perhaps that’s what trials are most known for—however, I should point out there will be nearly 150 new perennial varieties on display. So I assure you there will be plenty for the perennial enthusiast in us all.

The Trial Garden will host genetics from leading plant breeders from around the world, including Benary, Classic Caladiums, Danziger, Dümmen Orange, Green Fuse, PanAmerican Seed, PlantHaven, Proven Winners, Syngenta and others. These are the breeders I’m expecting will have perennials in the trials, but there will be at least a dozen other breeders showing off their new annuals varieties.

Limited registration, as well as a virtual experience, will be made available if an in-person event is not feasible. Click HERE to learn more about the trials at Costa Farms.

With the recent winter storms many of us received over the past week, it’s hard to believe that spring is nearly here. If you’re like me, it can’t get here fast enough. I haven’t visited with many growers yet this year, but it’s nice to see a few operations who've started some of their early spring crops. Getting off to a good start is so important to producing perennials and reducing future issues during production.

"Starting Strong" is the title of my Paul Talks Perennials column in the February 2021 issue of GrowerTalks (beginning on page 28). In the article, I provided several pointers on how to start the new season off strongly.

Here are a couple of snippets from the article:

Don’t be like me when I was a kid and hide stuff out of site under the bed; sweeping and washing with a hose is not sufficient and usually just moves dirt and diseases from one location to another. Clean means clean. Take the time and do it right. Use cleaning agents followed by disinfectants when cleaning greenhouses, production surfaces and tools.

We’ve all heard the expression, "Garbage in equals garbage out." Be honest with yourself—how many times have you decided to plant starting materials that weren't clean and healthy? In these instances, how many times did these known issues persist and have negative consequences with the crops?　

I share a few more details and ideas about sanitation and starting materials in the article. Click HERE to read "Starting Strong" in the February 2021 issue of GrowerTalks.

For decades, the Nursery Guide produced by the Oregon Association of Nurseries has been an invaluable resource linking green industry buyers with top-notch providers of plants, products and services. Now, this connection is even easier with the Nursery Guide LIVE Marketplace. The two-day virtual marketplace will be held February 17-18, 2021 and offers some of the best sales opportunities of the season.

The dynamic booths will offer attendees opportunities to learn about products through numerous images and videos, participate in live video networking chats—including opportunities to schedule private video chats—and attend live exhibitor presentations.

Learn more about Nursery Guide LIVE HERE. 

At the top of the newsletter, I shared this image with you and asked if you could solve this week’s diagnostic challenge:

How do you think you did? Did you answer mechanical damage, caterpillar feeding, slug damage or rodent feeding injury? If so, you didn’t successfully complete the challenge, either. Now I don’t feel so isolated.

The most obvious clue in the image above are the distinct triangular patterns along the margins of the leaves. However, not all of the leaves have distinct triangles—check out this image from the same area in the greenhouse:

In this image, you can see the damage is more evenly dispersed across the crop rather than located primarily along the edges. Have you changed your answer after I told you it wasn’t the obvious options and showed you another image?

If you changed your answer to feeding damage caused by birds, you nailed it. Was that your answer from the beginning or did you change your answer at the last minute? Maybe you peeked at the images below.

The damage on the sedum and a few other crops I’m told is being caused by European house sparrows (Passer domesticus). These are the small sparrows you see everywhere.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s diagnostic challenge. If you have an issue, no matter how big or small, that you think would be a good challenge for the newsletter, please send them my way. It can be nutritional, insect, disease, environmental or from other causes. The only thing I ask is that you know the answer. As always, I will not disclose your company name so that your peers won’t know that you’re only human and also occasionally come across a problem or two when growing perennials. Please send your challenges to me at ppilon@ballpublishing.com.