Black Petunias
Jan
9
Written by:
Monday, January 09, 2012
 Ornamental Plant of the Week
January 9, 2012
Black Petunias
from Allen Owings
Black petunias have been getting a considerable amount of discussion the past year. Black petunias, you ask? Are there black-flowering petunias? Yes, there are. These are new to the market, with spring 2011 seeing their successful debut in Louisiana garden centers.
Ball FloraPlant has added three dark-flowering cultivars. Black Velvet is being promoted as the world’s first black petunia. This cultivar works well in baskets, containers and landscape beds. Early to flower, it has a tightly branching growth habit.
Phantom is another new petunia. The flower base color is black with a yellow star pattern on the petals. A mounding petunia, it has an upright habit.
The Pinstripe variety produces dark purple flowers with a creamy, white, star pattern.
All three of these “black” petunias have been grown in LSU AgCenter landscape evaluations at the Hammond Research Station with average results. All three were LSU AgCenter landscape plant People’s Choice award winners in spring 2011. Home gardeners voted Pinstripe and Phantom award winners, while green industry professionals named Pinstripe the People’s Choice Silver Winner for the spring and named Black Velvet the People’s Choice Bronze Winner for the spring.
Don’t you think these would be great for a “Who Dat” landscape?
FURTHER ARTICLES
Globe Amaranth Named Texas Superstar Plants for 2012
Get It Growing News Articles for January 2012
AAS Garden in Baton Rouge and American Garden Award Plants for 2012
Azalea Leaf Gall May Be Coming This Spring
Sustainable Landscape News Articles
(note: Texas Superstar plants for 2012 have been announced. Joining globe amaranth will be the Rio series Mandevilla and Lowrey’s Legacy cenizo (Leucophyllum langmaniae. See more at www.texassuperstar.com.)
Globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa), also known as bachelor’s buttons in some parts of the country, are a garden standby that has received renewed attention from industrious plant breeders. Cultivars are now available ranging in height from 6 inches to 48 inches, and flower colors, which were traditionally light purple, lavender or white, now include dark, rich purples and pink. Hybridization and selection in the closely related Rio Grande globe amaranth (Gomphrena haageana) has added strawberry red to orange flowers to the mix. The button, cylindrical cones or sparkler-shaped flowers offer season-long color from late spring to frost. Individual flower clusters also have a long duration of effectiveness because the straw textured colored bracts constitute the showy portions of the flowers, lasting long after the tiny reproductive portions of the flowers have senesced. These plants thrive in the heat of Texas summers and are at their best when many annuals are fading in the dog days of late summer and early fall. Globe amaranth looks great in combination with later-season flowers such as fall-blooming salvias and Mexican mint marigold. Small, seed-feeding birds find the tiny amaranth seeds irresistible and are attracted to the plants in small flocks.
With the recent introductions of the Las Vegas series (intermediate in height) and the Audray series and All Around series (tall in height) added to the existing compact Gnome series and Buddy series, a wide range of colors and plant sizes are available. In addition to the wide range in sizes and flower colors of the various cultivars, plants can be obtained with open, informal habits, such as Fireworks with flowers that resemble purple sparklers on larger, more open plants. If an informal look is to your liking, then Strawberry Fields and other Rio Grande globe amaranths such as the QIS series offer a change-up in color and a more sprawling, relaxed habit. Give these heat-loving plants a sunny spot in the garden with good drainage and avoid setting them out until night temperatures warm in the spring, and they will give you season-long color that builds all summer to a peak just before the fall frosts arrive. Also, try using globe amaranths as cut flowers to extend your enjoyment from the garden to indoors.
All-America Selections for 2012 – January 6
Spring Flowering Trees – January 13
Hedges – January 20
Nematodes in the Veggie Garden – January 27
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/communications/news/get_it_growing/read_more/Manage-for-nematodes-in-vegetable-gardens.htm
New plant selections for 2013 will be planted in AAS gardens throughout United States. We are fortunate to have at Burden Center Botanical Garden, 4560 Essen Lane in Baton Rouge, both an AAS display garden and an American Award Garden, which means people can come by and vote on their favorite plants. Voting will begin this spring.
The six new entries for 2013 to be voted on by the public are: Angelonia angustifolia Summer Snapdragon Serena Blue, Begonia boliviensis Santa Cruz, gazania Big Kiss White Flame, petchoa x hybrida SuperCal Pink Ice (cross between a petunia and calibrachoa), petunia Surfinia Deep Red and sunflower Goldie.
The American Garden Award is a unique opportunity for the gardening public to vote on a specific flower they think has the most appealing garden characteristics. Some of the world’s most prestigious flower breeders have chosen their best varieties to enter in this competition. Then, in cooperation with over 24 highly respected public gardens throughout the United States, we present the entries so consumers can view the plants in person, then vote on their favorite.
Consumers and home gardeners who are unable to make it to Burden Center Botanical Garden to view these flowers in person can vote by emailing their choices to aas@aas-ngb.org.
Visit www.all-americaselections.org to view the complete list of display gardens, award display gardens (AGA) and trial gardens throughout United States.
Azalea leaf gall is quite common in Louisiana and is quite prevalent this spring because of the cool, wet weather that we’ve had recently. Although it is most commonly seen affecting leaves, it can also occur on the stems, flowers and seed pods. It is caused by the fungus Exobasidium vaccinii, which will also cause leaf galls on a variety of other hosts, including camellias and several other members of the Ericaceae. Similar leaf galls caused by E. camelliae can be found on camellia (especially sasanqua camellias), and those caused by E. symploci can be found on Symplocos tinctoria (common or sapphire-berry sweetleaf, horse-sugar or yellow-wood). Although these deformities are unsightly and sometimes grotesque, the disease is not generally serious unless it is left to develop on particularly susceptible cultivars. In fact, the fleshy galls are often called “pinkster apples” and are edible!
 Leaf gall symptoms appear soon after flowering and are quite visible as the leaves (or portions of a leaf) become thickened with a fleshy or leather-like texture and their shape is distorted. At first, these tend to be pale green, pink or white, but they eventually become white and powdery as the fungus develops and begins to produce spores, which make up the white, powdery substance coating the galls. These spores are readily dispersed in air currents and by splashing water, and subsequent infection occurs only on young, tender growth. Later, the leaves will shrivel up as they dry out and will then turn brown and become quite hard. These galled leaves may then fall to the ground and serve as a source of inoculum the next spring. The fungus is also thought to survive within asymptomatic-infected tissues and as spores within bud scales.
In the landscape, this disease is managed primarily by the use of cultural practices. These include practices that increase airflow and promote rapid drying of the foliage as well as sanitation practices that reduce the production of additional inoculum. When establishing new plantings it is important to maintain adequate spacing so as not to create an environment conducive to disease development. Also, avoid planting in protected areas without adequate ventilation, such as enclosed courtyards, etc. For established plantings, selective thinning of the canopy to increase airflow would help considerably. Frequent inspection of the plants and removal of infected leaves when they first appear is often all that is needed to control this disease. If large numbers of leaves are affected, you might consider pruning the plants in late spring or early summer to remove infected leaves and stimulate new growth. Also be sure to rake up and destroy affected leaves that have fallen to the ground under the plants.
In commercial nurseries, the fungicide triadimefon (Bayleton) may be sprayed beginning at bud break and repeated every 10 days as long as environmental conditions are suitable for disease development. Some fungicides used to control petal blight (i.e., mancozeb) should also help to prevent leaf gall.
LSU AgCenter Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic
Horticulture Resolutions – January 6
LSU AgCenter Soil Testing and Plant Analysis Lab
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