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Discovering Annuals, by Graham Rice

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Fleuroselect - how it works and 1997 winners

From BBC Gardener's World magazine

Every year hundreds of new flower seed varieties appear in catalogues and on the garden centre seed racks. Of course, all the seed companies say their own varieties are the best - but they would, wouldn't they? So how do we know, before we buy them, which varieties really are good? A little guidance is helpful, and Fleuroselect provides that help.

Fleuroselect is on odd word, but it gives you the general idea of what the organisation is about. Fleuro - something to do with flowers... select - making a choice. Fleuroselect is the organisation which trials new flower seed varieties all over European and gives awards to the best.

Of course it's important to say straight away that the main aim of Fleuroselect is not actually to help the gardener choose which varieties to buy but to encourage us to buy more. The membership of the organisation is made up of flower seed breeders worldwide and the seed companies which sell seed both to gardeners and to commercial growers. And they all want to sell more seed.

Nevertheless the awards given after the testing of potential new introductions are a good guide both to innovation and garden performance.

How it's done...

Flower seed breeders from the world over enter their newest varieties before they even come on to the market. These varieties are then grown in all twenty seven trial grounds from Italy to Finland, including those at Unwins Seeds, Thompson & Morgan Seeds and three other sites in the UK. ) One, or sometimes two, existing similar varieties are grown alongside for comparison. All the entries are grown under code numbers with no clue given to name or origin. Only the secretariat in Holland can match the entry number with a raiser or variety name.

Each variety is judged during the whole of its growing season and marked against a series of carefully controlled criteria including uniformity, freedom of flowering, length of flowering period, habit of growth and tolerance of bad weather and of pests and diseases. Performance in packs is also assessed and, where relevant, productivity as a cut flower.

Innovation is also recognised - the extent to which an entry is the result of a breeding breakthrough, a genuine advance in the science and art of plant breeding. And of course there are marks for sheer beauty.

The marks from the trial grounds all over Europe are collated and varieties which gain 75% of the maximum possible marks are awarded a Gold Medal. Others which don't quite make Gold are awarded the Quality Mark. More which are seen to be genuinely new have their status as novelties recognised.

But does it work?

Well at first it didn't. Set up in 1971, in the early years Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were available but the judging system somehow produced no golds and few silvers. Lots of bronze medals were awarded to varieties which performed well in some areas of Europe but badly in others; the six zinnias which gained awards were never successful in Britain.

Then in 1990 the system was improved and confidence began to grow. But the truth is that in Britain gardeners still pay little attention to the little red symbol in the catalogues and on the seed packets and even amongst members there are signs of unrest.

At this year's Fleuroselect convention in California I detected undercurrents of discontent. 'It's all too political' was a comment I heard quite a few times. Although the entries are supposed to be anonymous, in practice most members have a pretty good idea of who's entered what and there's a suspicion that some varieties end up with medals they don't deserve and some splendid varieties are denied their just rewards.

A recent example was the denial of a Gold Medal to the British bred Nicotiana 'Domino Salmon Rose', a prolific variety in a stunning new colour, and the awarding of a Gold Medal to Nicotiana 'Havana Appleblossom', an interesting development but a poor thing by comparison.

From the gardeners point of view the problem is that companies do not enter all their new introductions so that some of the best new varieties are denied even the chance of a Gold Medal. This devalues the medals given to those which do enter.

Plant breeders are sometimes cautious about entering their varieties in Fleuroselect trials because their competitors can see and assess them long before they're introduced - and have time to organise a response.

Recently, this was clearly demonstrated when a relatively small breeding company entered a new type of geranium with white flowers and a bold pink eye in the Fleuroselect trials. It performed well and was awarded a Quality Mark but by the time it was released, as 'Venus', one of the huge multinational companies had rushed out a similar, but less good variety, called 'Maverick Star'.

Of course if plant breeders entered all their newcomers there would be so many that the system would collapse. But one aspect of the trials which has benefited home gardeners immensely is that the system has encouraged breeders raising open pollinated varieties, especially hardy annuals. Many of these can easily be pirated, you simply collect seed and grow some more. If you do that with F1 hybrids, of course, they don't come true.

Fleuroselect members agree not to pirate each other's varieties so breeders can be sure of a reasonable return on their investment in a new introduction. This protection is valuable even without Gold Medal.

So although some superb varieties have never even been entered into Fleuroselect and some have gained awards for reasons which are of little interest to home gardeners, there are no real disasters amongst recent award winners. Given the poor things some companies put on the seed racks, we can grow Fleuroselect winners sure that for none of them will we say at the end of the season: 'That was a complete waste of time.'

The pick of the crop

Bedding plants are constantly being updated, but this is my choice of the best of the medal winners that are currently available, including one or two from many years ago,

Begonia 'Pin-Up' Spectacular white flowered, tuberous begonia with a pretty pink picotee to the single flowers. 1991

Coreopsis 'Early Sunrise' Semi-double, golden flowers on this hardy perennial. Flowering starts in July from a March sowing, earlier in succeeding years. 1989

Cosmos 'Sonata White' Superb, pure white dwarf cosmos reaching about 18in. Dwarf enough to suit all gardens but not so dumpy as to be ugly. 1991

Lavatera 'Silver Cup' Beautiful shining pink mallow with dark veins and a long flowering season. One of the best of the medal winners all for gardeners. 1979.

Lobelia 'Fan Scarlet' Spectacular perennial lobelia making a bushy and prolific clump in its first year. 1995

Petunia 'Lavender Storm' The most weather resistant of the large flowered Grandiflora petunias, it's been unrivalled in recent years. 1996

Rudbeckia 'Goldilocks' Wonderful double flowered, orange-yellow rudbeckia. Not always as fully double as it once was, but still good. Raised in Britain. 1985

Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red' A completely new type of red salvia, altogether more elegant than the usual scarlet salvia and fits well into mixed borders. 1992

Salvia farinacea 'Strata' Delightful, long flowering salvia with dark blue, white-eyed flowers set on white stems. Still flowering for me in mid October last year. 1996

Tagetes 'Safari Tangerine' Astonishingly vivid colour, very prolific and not too dumpy. Just the thing for splash with style. 1992

Verbena 'Peaches & Cream' Unique colouring, opening rich coral pink and ageing through salmon shades to peachy yellow. 1992

Viola 'Velour Blue' Highly prolific mini-pansy with dark blue flowers shading to pale blue. Good in spring or summer. 1994.

Not exactly for the compost heap, but...

Ammobium alatum 'Bikini' A shorter version of the white flowered everlasting. Useful, but a Gold Medal? 1996

Aster 'Starlight Rose' Very short plants with one dramatic but short burst of flowers which open all at once. Then nothing. 1992

Fuchsia 'Florabelle' Pretty, and with plenty of marks for plant breeding achievement, but cuttings raised varieties will always be superior. 1995

Nicotiana 'Havana Appleblossom' Floppy, pink-backed, white flowers on very short plants. A good idea, but an average plant. 1995

Nierembergia 'Mont Blanc' Low, creeping, bedding version of a rock plant, it often flowers rather sparsely. 1993

Pelargonium 'Summer Showers' A technical breakthrough when it first appeared, but never outperformed cuttings raised ivy-leaved geraniums. Now upgraded, but also superseded by Tornado. 1986

1997 Gold Medals

This year's Gold medalists are an odd collection, and some have not even been taken up by the our seed companies.

Celosia 'Bombay Purple' A cockscomb style cut flower with long stems topped with flat, fan shaped flowers in rich purple. Gained its award for its novelty, its ability to produce a huge number of cut flowers from a small area and its flat heads making packing in boxes more convenient!

Delphinium 'Centurion Sky Blue' A perennial delphinium with pale blue, white-eyed flowers, Centurion Sky Blue flowers prolifically in its first year and lasts well as a cut flower. Growing tips: Sow in January or February at 25C, then after four days reduce the temperature to 15C. Prick out into individual pots or cells, grow on at 10C, harden off then plant out in late May or early June for flowering later in the summer. Stake well, plants which topple over tend to die off in cold, wet winters.

Gazania 'Daybreak Bright Orange' The most brilliant colour yet in gazanias, a dramatic shining orange. However, a whole page of technical information from Fleuroselect neglects to mention that in cool, dull weather the flowers of this variety close up, as they do in all gazanias. This feature was very noticeable on the Wisley gazania trials last year. Perhaps this is why no seed company has taken it up but you should find it in garden centres in May.

Myosotis 'Rosylva' This neat growing, pink flowered forget-me-not gained its award for its clear colouring (which shows up poorly in pictures), its bushy growth, its uniform neat habit and its long flowering season, starting early and finishing late.Growing tips: Sow in June or July, in pots in the greenhouse at about 18C. Prick out into cells and plant out in well drained soil in September or early October.

Other Fleuroselect awards for 1997...

Amongst the varieties which gained Quality Marks for 1997, look out for the following:

Helichrysum Chico Series Dwarf helichrysums, a five-colour series which although dwarf are not too dumpy.

Linaria Fantasia Series A real departure with clouds of flowers in five colours and great in containers.

Impatiens Mosaic Lilac A prettily speckled container variety, listed by most seed companies.

Tanacetum Virgo A tightly double, cream-eyed white feverfew for bedding or cutting.

And further into the future...

There were some spectacular entries in this year's trials. Seed of the winners, which have not yet been named or announced, should be in next autumn's catalogues.

Red veined petunia This spectacular white petunia with its brilliant red veins divided opinion at the Fleuroselect convention in California last summer, but I'm sure it will be popular. Now introduced as Petunia 'Strawberry Sundae'.

White corn cockle An easy to grow hardy annual, this new colour break looked wonderful at some trials and but less good at others. The flowers are much larger than those of other corn cockles.Now introduced as Agrostemma 'Ocean Pearl'.

Zinnia for the UK This pink zinnia did far better than the zinnias which won Fleuroselect medals all those years ago. Now introduced as Zinnia 'Profusion Cherry'.

Where to see the winners

Ayr Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive (01292 520331)

Belfast Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park, Belfast

Devon RHS Garden, Rosemoor, Torrington (01805 624067)

Durham Wycliffe Hall Botanical Gardens, Barnard Castle

Greenock Inverclyde District Council

Gwent Festival Park, Victoria, Ebbw Vale

Leeds Golden Acre Park (0113 246 3504)

Lincolnshire Springfields Gardens, Spalding (01775 724843)

London Capel Manor Horticultural Centre, Enfield, Middlesex (0181 366 4442)

Surrey RHS Garden, Wisley (01483 224234)

Swansea City of Swansea Botanic Gardens

Yorkshire Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens, Harrogate (01423 565418)

 

First published in BBC Gardeners World magazine, February 1997

Fleuroselect
©copyright 1999 Graham Rice. All Rights Reserved. All Images Digitally Watermarked.

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