For 90 years, the Penn State Flower Trials have helped growers answer a simple question: Which flowers are best worth planting? This summer, the trials are celebrating that legacy by pairing cutting-edge new varieties with "Oldies but Goodies," classic flowers that have stood the test of time.
"Sometimes your grandmother's favorite petunia really is still the best," said Alyssa Collins, director of Penn State's Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Manheim, Pennsylvania, where the trials take place.
Operated by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, the trials are among the oldest and largest flower trials programs in the world. Nearly 1,000 annual and perennial varieties from about 30 floriculture companies are planted and evaluated each year under Pennsylvania growing conditions.
"The flower trials have several purposes," said Krystal Snyder, horticulture extension educator and interim director of the Penn State Flower Trials. "The big one is that breeders from all over the world trial their plants here to see what performs well in our location."
The trials play an important role in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, where relatively few flower varieties are bred and tested because of the region's humid summers and unpredictable weather conditions, noted Collins, whose expertise is in plant pathology. She noted that the center's location makes it easily accessible to visitors from across Pennsylvania and much of the eastern United States.
"If a plant can do well here in our conditions," Collins said, "it's likely going to do well for the majority of buyers in the region, and these folks can come out and see it for themselves."
The trials also provide a resource for greenhouse growers, garden centers and landscapers evaluating new varieties before deciding what to stock and sell.
"Being in Lancaster County, with nearly 300 licensed greenhouse growers, makes the trials especially accessible to the industry," Snyder said.
