Several new coleus varieties (Trusty Rusty, Redhead, Henna and Mint Mocha) scored excellent ratings for vegetative quality, flowering performance and overall presentation at the Franklin Park Conservatory’s 2009 field trials in Columbus, Ohio. Visitors also indicated their preference for coleus by making Redhead, Henna and Mint Mocha consumer choice award winners. When asked to choose 3 trial entries that they would purchase, consumers routinely chose these coleus varieties. Also, making the consumer’s choice list were Lantana Lucky Pure Gold and Rudbeckia TigerEye.
The conservatory is also conducting perennial trials. The three-year program, the only one of its kind in Ohio, will release the preliminary results this spring, as winter hardiness results are still being collected. Consumers chose Physostegia virginiana ‘Crystal Peak White’ as the perennial they would most likely purchase. It scored high marks for its abundant flowers from mid-July through mid-August.
The 2010 trials will expand to include vegetables. Entrants in the vegetable program will receive a 6- by 6-ft. trial plot from March through November. This will enable companies to include both warm and cold season crops in the trials. Vegetable entries will be judged for vegtetative quality, harvest length, disease/insect susceptibility and crop yield.