Trends in annuals From Country Life The future The most dramatic development, but still a decade away from appearing in catalogues, is the true yellow flowered sweet pea. Members of the National Sweet Pea Society have been trying for years to raise a yellow flowered variety but it has now been achieved in New Zealand. Plant breeder Dr Keith Hammett has crossed a newly discovered yellow flowered species from Turkey with on old fashioned pre-Spencer type. Using the latest technology to raise the weak seedlings, he has developed a yellow flowered plant with scent, along with some startling new bicolours. They still need refining, but they're on the way. Rather less dramatic are bedding salvias in more unsual shades, pollen free sunflowers for cutting and yet another variation on the busy lizzie. The last variant was the picotee type, now available in a range of pink shades, and the next will be a very pretty form with speckled flowers. But why must they continue to make them so dumpy? This is a trend for which both Christopher Lloyd and I have berated breeders in the past but it seems impossible to divert them from their fixation on dwarfness. This is partly because, as in the case of the 'Fantasy' petunias, dwarf plants tend to flower earlier so customers can see them in flower when they buy them. Secondly, dwarf plants need less maintenance when planted on windy roundabouts and sea fronts. But we don't necessarily want them in our borders.           From the Spring Gardens Number of Country Life, 1995 Back to Trends in annuals More on Trends in annuals The revival of old varieties Container plants Colours Annual Manual ©copyright 1999 Graham Rice. All Rights Reserved. All Images Digitally Watermarked.