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There is always excitement and anticipation associated with the introduction of a new hardy plant to the market, and any new addition to the short list of hardy plants is always appreciated.
Jeffries Nurseries is known for searching out and/or developing plants that are hardy to zones 2 and 3.
Many of these plants also excel in zones 4 and 5.
The Jeffries Nurseries’ research and development program has commercialized a number of cultivars in the last ten years that have had a significant impact on the northern landscape.
These new plant introductions have been a result of both selection and development within the company or evaluation of plant material developed by others.
In many cases, Jeffries Nurseries licenses other growers in Canada, the United States, and Europe to grow these new cultivars, registers the plant name with the Canadian Trademark, and/or retains the genetic property by registering for Plant Breeders Rights when required.
We are proud to introduce five new hardy cultivars of chrysanthemums to the northern market this year.
Two were already offered last year, and this summer the remaining three will be available.
There has been a gap of 25 years since the last hardy mum cultivars had been introduced.
I made intercrosses within the well-recognized and proven Morden mum cultivars (such as Morden Fiesta, Morden Garnet, Morden Cameo, and others), along with crosses between the Morden cultivars and the slightly less hardy Minnesota mums to provide new combinations of color, size, and texture.
The result of this breeding activity was a population of hybrids that produced a wide assortment of colors and flowering times.
We have introduced the early flowering, hardy plants that display an attractive blend of color.
The introductions are:
Dreamweaver™
A rich, clear mauve-colored flower, 3′ (70 cm) in height
Suncatcher®
A brilliant yellow flower, up to 4′ (90 cm) in height
Firestorm™
Red petals with a yellow eye, a compact plant up to 2′ (50 cm)
Tigertail™
Blends of rust and yellow, mound-shaped plant up to 3.5′ (80 cm)
Showbiz™
Purple-mauve pompoms on a dwarf, compact plant of 1.5′ (40 cm)
We’ve also been busy developing exciting new lilies, and this year, there are two new introductions from our lily program.
‘Easter Charm’ is the third Easterpet (Easter x trumpet) to be introduced from the breeding work done by Ms. Lynn Collicutt at the world-renowned Morden Research Station in the late 1980s.
We took over that program in 1992 and have been evaluating and crossing the Easterpet group along with making great strides in intercrossing this group with other groups such as Asiapets and orients.
The soft pink tone of ‘Easter Charm’ sets it apart from ‘Easter Morn’.
The other 2005 introduction is ‘Nutcracker’ by Dr. Art Evans. This is an attractive and vigorous orange-colored, tetraploid Asiatic lily.
This cultivar grows to a height of 90 cm and is a fantastic alternative to the smaller and later flowering Tiger lily.
As if this wasn’t enough, Jeffries Nurseries is also part of a Monarda (also known as beebalm) consortium that has supported the Monarda breeding program at the Morden Research Station.
We are now preparing to introduce in the fall of 2005 two exciting new mid-size Monarda cultivars;
Grand Marshall
A reddish-purple flower that attains a height of up to 2′ (50 cm)
Grand Parade
A medium purple flower and a compact, mound-forming plant that will grow up to 2′ (50 cm)
We anticipate that these two cultivars from this newly created mid-sized group will be extremely popular throughout North American landscapes. And so the new introductions just keep on coming!