CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
Menu
Published on 05/05/21

UGA plant breeders have developed vivid varieties ideal for Mother's Day

By Maria M. Lameiras

Plants and flowers are popular choices for Mother’s Day gifts each year and University of Georgia plant breeders are responsible for many beautiful varieties available in garden stores.

As they are developed, many of these varieties — along with hundreds of other new ornamentals from nurseries and plant breeders around the world — are tested at the Trial Gardens at UGA.

The staff at the Trial Gardens receive plants or seeds from almost all of the plant breeding companies in the world, along with material from perennial plant nurseries, individual growers and gardeners, including the UGA breeding programs led by John Ruter, professor of horticulture at UGA and director of the Trial Gardens.

Trial Gardens staff plant the new varieties during April and May, including major and minor bedding classes, tropicals, vines, plantings of specialty annuals, more than 150 free-standing containers and three large perennial beds. Then they monitor the plants’ performance through the hottest season of the year.

“Breeders send us their plants because they want to see if they can grow in the heat and humidity of a Georgia summer,” said Ruter.

Since 1982, the Trial Gardens have evaluated new selections of annuals and perennials and helped introduce new plants to the Southeast’s green industry and the public. The evaluations are globally respected, with commercial nurseries across the U.S. depending on the staff’s recommendations to determine what they will grow to sell the following season.

Criteria for award-winning plants include tolerance to heat and humidity, ease of propagation, resistance to disease and insects, flower show and longevity.

While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal trials in 2020, Trial Gardens staff evaluated a smaller number of plants to choose the best annuals and perennials in 2020 trials. Planting has resumed as normal this year and winners of the Trial Gardens' Classic City Garden Awards and Best of the Best Awards will be announced in October.

The 2019 Classic City Award-winning and Best of the Best Award-winning varieties are currently available in local garden centers.

Ruter has contributed many plants to landscapes around the southeast including the Passion, Adore and Blush hibiscus varieties, Hot Lips trumpet vine, and a variety of hollies.

Ornamentals developed by retired UGA horticulture professor Michael Dirr include big-leaf hydrangeas in purple, pink, and white; crape myrtle in shades named Pink Pig and Purple Cow; 'Dazzle' crape myrtles in Cherry, Sweetheart, Pink, Strawberry and Diamond; and butterfly bushes in Groovy Grape, Funky Fuschia and Psychedelic Sky.

For more information on the work that goes on year-round in the UGA Trial Gardens, visit the Trial Gardens website.

Maria M. Lameiras is a managing editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Authors:
Maria M. Lameiras
Experts/Sources:
John Ruter
The Passion hibiscus, developed by UGA plant breeder John Ruter, has burgundy and red leaves and bright-green flower buds that bloom into massive pink flowers. The Razzle Dazzle® dwarf crapemyrtles were developed by UGA horticulturist and breeder Michael A. Dirr. The Strawberry Dazzle variety pictured bursts into beautiful, neon-rose blooms.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Download Image
University of Georgia startup CytoNest Inc. released its first commercial product this year, a fiber scaffold that optimizes cell manufacturing and tissue engineering. (Photo by Lauren Corcino) CAES News
UGA again ranks No. 1 in new research-based products 11/04/24 Brandon Ward
The University of Georgia once again ranks No. 1 among U.S. universities for the number of commercial products to market based on its research, according to an annual survey conducted by AUTM. For nine straight years, UGA has placed in the top two and has never appeared out of the Top 5 in the 11 years the survey has been reported by AUTM. UGA industry partners and startups released a record 66 new products developed from the university’s research in fiscal year 2023, on which the AUTM report is based.
Combining data collection and analysis with plant pathology, precision agriculture and robotics, the UGA team will build a photographic library of the foliar symptoms caused by onion diseases and other physiological disorders, feed them into the AI software, and use machine learning to identify the diseases based on pattern and color recognition from the images. CAES News
UGA uses AI, robotics to improve Georgia’s Vidalia sweet onion crop 10/23/24 Jordan Powers
A multidisciplinary team of UGA researchers aims to enhance the competitiveness of Vidalia onion growers in Georgia by providing them with the ability to confidently detect onion diseases early, enabling them to make management decisions on their crop at a critical time. These abilities, researchers say, should result in increased yield and quality of marketable onions and an overall increase in efficiency and productivity.
Associate Professor Rhuanito Ferrarezi poses with a Gerber daisy grown by students in his 4050/6050 Greenhouse Management class in fall 2023. CAES News
Upcoming UGA plant sales bring color to fall 10/15/24 Maria M. Lameiras
Fall weather means fall gardening, and several groups at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will be offering the fruits of their labors at ornamental plant sales across campus this semester. On Friday, Oct. 18, the Trial Gardens at University of Georgia will hold its annual Fall Houseplant Sale, and on Wednesday, Nov. 20, greenhouse management students will offer their ornamental plant sale at the South Milledge Greenhouse Complex.
Although it may not fit the traditional image of a well-kept lawn, this landscape is the result of careful planning and a deep commitment to ecological stewardship. CAES News
Done with mowing? How to transform your lawn into a native, perennial landscape 09/12/24 Emily Cabrera
On a tour of her Blairsville, Georgia, home, Becky Griffin navigates a swaying maze of perennial grasses interspersed with pussy willows, switchgrass and boneset. Although it may not fit the traditional image of a well-kept lawn, this landscape is the result of careful planning and a deep commitment to ecological stewardship. As a native plant enthusiast and coordinator of the Great Southeast Pollinator Census, Griffin hand-selected each of these native plants for the countless ecological services they provide year-round.
Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium CAES News
Keep on the grass 08/29/24 Emily Cabrera, Scott Michaux
When the University of Georgia Bulldogs step between the hedges at Sanford Stadium, the grass on Dooley Field needs to look perfect. More importantly, though, it needs to help safeguard the health of athletes who compete on it. Gerald Henry plays a big role in the latter. The UGA Athletic Association’s endowed professor in environmental turfgrass leads a research team in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences committed to creating sports fields that look good and perform well to limit the occurrence of injuries.
Student interns at UGArden in 2017. (PHOTO: Andrew Davis Tucker, UGA MarComm) CAES News
UGArden receives $10K from Kubota, votes can raise to $50K 08/07/24 Isabella Farris
Just a short drive from UGA’s downtown campus sits 10 acres of land known as UGArden. Rows of carrots, okra, kale, squash and much more line the fields. An average of 15,000 pounds of produce is grown on the student farm each year, and that food gets distributed to community members in need. But that capacity and those partnerships could soon grow, thanks to a $10,000 Kubota Hometown Proud Grant, which comes with a valuable additional component: a vote competition that could get UGArden an additional $40,000 and one lucky voter a Kubota mower.