Keep color selling longer with shoulder-season crops
Season-extending varieties provide gardeners with dependable color, texture and performance during transitional times of the year. This gives growers and retailers the opportunity to extend sales by filling gaps when traditional options may struggle to thrive.
Options that are specifically bred to tolerate temperature swings and other environmental stressors, whether enduring the intense heat and humidity of summer or providing visual interest when temperatures cool off in fall, make seasonal extenders an easy addition for many operations.
These varieties will give growers adaptable choices for crops that perform across seasons.
Benary
Marigolds are great summer-extending plants. The Super Hero series from Benary delivers compact, uniform plants with vibrant blooms that hold up through extreme summer heat. Strong branching and continuous flowering keep beds and containers looking fresh long after other annuals tire out, making them a reliable choice for extending color deep into the season. ‘Super Hero Spry’ is an All-America Selections Winner.
Benary’s BIG begonias series deliver massive flowers, vigorous growth and unmatched weather tolerance from early summer through frost. Their ability to thrive in sun or shade, paired with continuous flowering and bold foliage, ensures long-lasting impact in landscapes and large containers. The full series provides dependable, season-spanning color with minimal maintenance.
Photos courtesy of Benary.
Syngenta Flowers
Beehive is a spreading pentas series from seed, with strong basal branching that quickly fills baskets. It flowers two weeks earlier than competitors’ and is available in four colors. The Beehive series from Syngenta Flowers is suitable for summer combinations as it thrives in heat throughout the season.
The Zydeco series of zinnia from Syngenta Flowers delivers fully double blooms that maintain form well into the season. The built-in heat, drought and disease tolerance keeps foliage clean for garden performance that lasts from planting to frost.
Photos courtesy of Syngenta Flowers.
Danziger
Loaded with blooms, the scaevola Blessing series from Danziger brings tons of color to hanging baskets, containers and garden beds. Bicolor Rose loves the heat with large flowers that open simultaneously for consistent color.
Portulaca ‘Mega Pazzaz Papaya Twist’ loves the heat and is a standout in the hottest summer weather. It offers outstanding bloom power and extra-large mango flowers in the new twist pattern. Its semitrailing habit works well for combos and containers.
Photos courtesy of Danziger.
Dümmen Orange
Coleus ‘Main Street Franklin Street’ is a new selection from Dümmen Orange. Franklin Street brings a burst of green, lime and orange colors. It grows well in planters and the garden, in both shade or sun, and has excellent branching with a strong, supportive architecture. Late to flower, this coleus continues to perform well into the late summer and early fall months.
Calibrachoa ‘Rainbow Dragon Berry’ has color-changing blooms dependent on temperature at bud set and the amount of sunlight the plant receives. It blooms in shades of red, pink, yellow and white, giving growers and consumers an all-in-one option to fill baskets, planters and the garden.
Photos courtesy of Dümmen Orange.
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