DOWNERS GROVE, IL – Now that North American trial grounds have completed their 2014 trialing season, the National Plant Trials Database has over 15,000 plant ratings for the horticulture industry’s use in planning for 2015. Each year since its inception in 2012, the number of varieties and ratings have increased, making the database an ever more useful tool for flower brokers, buyers and sellers.
To view the trial data, industry professionals can simply go to www.planttrials.org and click on the “Register to View” button.
Trialing details by year:
2012 – 1,655 varieties with more than 5,600 ratings from 8 trial grounds
2013 – 2,463 varieties with more than 9,400 ratings from 12 trial grounds
2014 – 3,651 varieties with more than 15,500 ratings from 19 trial grounds
The initial idea for an online repository of trialing data came out of a collaboration between
All-America Selections and the University of Georgia. After identifying and establishing standardized trialing protocols and scoring, the system was built in 2012 and is currently supported by the following breeding companies:
• American Takii
• Danziger “Dan” Flower Farm
• Dummen Group
• Ernst Benary of America
• Floranova Ltd.
• PanAmerican Seed/Ball Horticultural
• Proven Winners
• Sakata Ornamentals
• The Suntory Collection
• Syngenta Flowers
After three trialing seasons, the Plant Trials Database now includes more 30,000 ratings on thousands of varieties of annuals. This is expected to grow tremendously in the near future as additional breeding companies participate and as additional categories, such as perennials and edibles, are added to the system.
Special thanks to the 2014 participating trial grounds that have entered data thus far:
Colorado State University
Cornell Long Island
Cornell University Ithaca
Iowa State University – Reiman Gardens
Jardin Daniel A. Sequin
JC Raulston Arboretum – NCSU
Kansas State University
LSU Ag Center – Hammond Research Station
Mast Young Plants
MSU – South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station
Ohio State University Cultivar Trials
Penn State Trials
Raker Trial Gardens
The Trial Gardens at UGA
University of Guelph
University of MN West Central Research and Outreach Center
University of Tennessee Trial Gardens
University of Wisconsin West Madison Ag Research Station
Walt Disney’s Horticulture Bedding Plant Trials
And welcome to the following trial grounds who have already committed to enter trial data in 2015:
Battlefield Farms
Boerner Botanical Gardens
Dallas Arboretum
Denver Botanic Gardens
McCrory Gardens at South Dakota State University
Mississippi State University – Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station
Missouri Botanical Garden
North Dakota State University
Rotary Botanical Gardens
The Oregon Garden
With trialing data and ratings on such a large number of varieties, brokers, growers and garden retailers will find this information useful when making purchasing decisions. The data can be accessed by going to www.planttrials.org and filling out a short application form. Within a short time, applicants will be notified of their user credentials.
At this time, information is available only to the industry but eventually will become a tool for home gardeners as well.
For more information:
For more information:
Diane Blazek
All America Selections
dblazek@aas-ngb.org
630-963-0770
Timothy Howard
Clarity Connect, Inc.
timothy@clarity-connect.com
919-577-9901
Source: All America Selections