Dr. A’s Top Picks From California Spring Trials 2025, Day 1

The first day of California Spring Trials 2025 is complete. Here are five plant varieties and series that caught my eye when we visited Green Fuse Grove on the first day of California Spring Trials 2025. Featured breeders include Green Fuse Botanicals, Hem Genetics, Schoneveld Breeding, and Westhoff.

Start Slideshow

• 

• 

  Cyclamen ‘Dragon Blue’ (Schoneveld Breeding) | All photos courtesy of Dr. Allan Armitage

  I am a sucker for well–grown cyclamen, but this new color is to die for. It is, at least in my experience, the first blue (violet) cyclamen in commercial horticulture. This introduction is short, useful for 4- to 6-inch containers, and is an excellent choice for a flowering indoor plant. With the intense love younger buyers are showering on houseplants, this would indeed find traction.

• 

  Digitalis ‘DiBella’ Series (Hem Genetics)

  I believe foxglove is one of the most underused plants in gardening and landscaping. Upright spires are always in demand in a landscape, and foxglove provides just that. Historically, it has been a slow plant to produce, usually requiring a specific cold treatment before flower stalks expand and flowers open. Growers should jump on this series, which is available in four colors. They have strong stems, uniformity of flowering among colors, and most importantly, there is no need for any cold treatment for flowering. They flower approximately 20 weeks from sowing in normal winter greenhouse temperatures. Handsome, uniform, and easy to produce.

• 

  Firefly Petunia (Green Fuse Botanicals)

  A bioluminescent petunia, really? I felt like Shaggy Rogers as I was led into a dark tent and asked what I saw. “Nothing,” I said. But then, as my eyes became accustomed to the dark, I started to see little lights like those on a Christmas tree, and then a few minutes later, the room was alive with glowing plants. I kid you not. The glow is not overwhelming, the people readily admit there is much to improve — such as the intensity of the glow and the plant habit — but those are both in the works for the next generations.

  I was a skeptic when I walked in. I am less of a skeptic now. I truly hope growers give them a try; people may clamor for this newest of the new. And who knows what is next? The scientists claim they can put the bioluminescence gene into any plant. Look out clematis, hello glowing black-eyed Susan vine, and there glow the calibrachoas.

• 

  Petunia ‘Pink Dream’ (Westhoff)

  We have already seen our fair share of petunias, and this is only day one. However, I was very much taken with the rich pink color and the large flower size of this introduction. It is likely a stand-alone, not part of a series, but if the color, vigor, and size are any indication, it will stand alone well.

• 

  Streptocarpus ‘Double Blue Ice’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)

  I have seldom seen streptocarpus that belonged in places other than botanical gardens or greenhouses; and seldom have I seen one I would like to take home. However, as a complement to, in fact perhaps as a substitute for, my very slow-to-flower African violets, these would be perfect.

  We do not have sufficient flowering house plants, so this is terrific. They grow well, and they flower rapidly and often. This new double form is truly eye-catching.

1 of 5

2 of 5

3 of 5

4 of 5

5 of 5

Cyclamen ‘Dragon Blue’ (Schoneveld Breeding)

I am a sucker for well–grown cyclamen, but this new color is to die for. It is, at least in my experience, the first blue (violet) cyclamen in commercial horticulture. This introduction is short, useful for 4- to 6-inch containers, and is an excellent choice for a flowering indoor plant. With the intense love younger buyers are showering on houseplants, this would indeed find traction.

Digitalis ‘DiBella’ Series (Hem Genetics)

I believe foxglove is one of the most underused plants in gardening and landscaping. Upright spires are always in demand in a landscape, and foxglove provides just that. Historically, it has been a slow plant to produce, usually requiring a specific cold treatment before flower stalks expand and flowers open. Growers should jump on this series, which is available in four colors. They have strong stems, uniformity of flowering among colors, and most importantly, there is no need for any cold treatment for flowering. They flower approximately 20 weeks from sowing in normal winter greenhouse temperatures. Handsome, uniform, and easy to produce.

Firefly Petunia (Green Fuse Botanicals)

A bioluminescent petunia, really? I felt like Shaggy Rogers as I was led into a dark tent and asked what I saw. “Nothing,” I said. But then, as my eyes became accustomed to the dark, I started to see little lights like those on a Christmas tree, and then a few minutes later, the room was alive with glowing plants. I kid you not. The glow is not overwhelming, the people readily admit there is much to improve — such as the intensity of the glow and the plant habit — but those are both in the works for the next generations.

I was a skeptic when I walked in. I am less of a skeptic now. I truly hope growers give them a try; people may clamor for this newest of the new. And who knows what is next? The scientists claim they can put the bioluminescence gene into any plant. Look out clematis, hello glowing black-eyed Susan vine, and there glow the calibrachoas.

Petunia ‘Pink Dream’ (Westhoff)

We have already seen our fair share of petunias, and this is only day one. However, I was very much taken with the rich pink color and the large flower size of this introduction. It is likely a stand-alone, not part of a series, but if the color, vigor, and size are any indication, it will stand alone well.

Streptocarpus ‘Double Blue Ice’ (Green Fuse Botanicals)

I have seldom seen streptocarpus that belonged in places other than botanical gardens or greenhouses; and seldom have I seen one I would like to take home. However, as a complement to, in fact perhaps as a substitute for, my very slow-to-flower African violets, these would be perfect.

We do not have sufficient flowering house plants, so this is terrific. They grow well, and they flower rapidly and often. This new double form is truly eye-catching.