New Burpee Seeds Growing Great
As a garden writer and a member of the professional organization, the Association for Garden Communicators, I occasionally receive seeds or product samples to test. (hey, it’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it) Last December, I received a cool package from Burpee Seeds that I wanted to tell you about.
What they do is send out a type of Advent calendar where you open a little window for the 25 days prior to Christmas. Inside each window is a tiny packet of seeds that are Burpeer Seeds’ newest varieties. Now that’s my kind of Christmas present!
Once I’d retrieved all of those seed packets over the course of 25 days, I studied the accompanying information to determine which ones I wanted to plant in my garden and which ones I would share with gardening friends. Well, I have to admit, I kept a whole bunch of them for myself!
And here’s why I’m writing about this: every single variety I’ve grown this year has been a roaring success! Even though Burpee just gave me a few seeds of each (not that I’m complaining), the germination rates were awesome.
Here’s a bit about each (remember that you can click on any of the photos to view a larger image):
Flowers:
Cosmos ‘Lemonade’ – I love the color of the petals and the white centers. Plants are 20-24″ tall and do best in full sun (although they tolerate light shade). The ferny foliage is very attractive.
Marigold ‘Mission Giant Yellow’ – When I first saw this marigold, I did a double-take because it looks more like a spider mum to me! They are really appealing and will grow between 24″ and 34″ tall. The plants prefer full sun and those lovely flowers can be used as cut flowers. That’s a great way to stump folks who stop by!
Morning Glory ‘Party Dress’ – Not to be confused with field bindweed (although they are in the same family), morning glories really dress up a fence, trellis or, in my case, handmade obelisk. This cultivar features eye-popping pink flowers with white centers and the vines can grow up to 7′ tall! Morning glories also prefer full sun.
Verbascum (Mullein) ‘Snowy Spires’ – I’ve never grown mullein before but couldn’t resist giving it a go when I saw the flowers in the write-up! Verbascum starts out with a rosette of leaves and becomes established before sending up spikes of flowers. In this case, the flowers are white with pink centers. Pretty cool. These plants are hardy down to USDA zone 5, will grow 18-30″ tall and do best in full sun.
Zinnia ‘Queen Red Lime’ – Anyone who knows me knows that I am a zinnia-lover. I’ve grown all types and colors and this one really is a stunner in the garden. The flowers are a combination of lime green tinged with purplish red. Zinnias attract pollinators, are also sun-lovers, and this cultivar will reach from 24-40″ in height. Wowzers.
Vegetables:
Cucumber ‘Lunchbox’ – I hadn’t planned to grow cucumbers again this year but when I saw this variety, I decided to give it a try. And I’m so glad I did because the cucumbers are a nice size (about 8″) and the flavor is wonderful. Most cucumbers have a fairly bland flavor but ‘Lunchbox’ tastes great. The vines only grow up to 18″ high and the fruits reach maturity in about 50 days.
Pepper ‘Ringleader’ Jalapeno – As you know, my husband Bill is the pepper aficionado in our household and he is really pleased with this hot pepper and the next one. It isn’t super spicy but is very flavorful and prolific. The peppers grow up to 4″ long and the plants are close to 30″ tall! Wow.
Pepper ‘Stuff Enuff’ – As you can probably guess, this cultivar is a sweet pepper. You would NOT believe how large the peppers are! They are at least 7 or 8″ long, nice flesh and nice flavor. They take anywhere from 60 to 80 days to reach maturity, depending on whether you want to harvest them while they’re green or red. The plant are a good 2′ tall. You’ll definitely have bragging rights if you grow these!
Tomato ‘Atlas Hybrid’ – This is a semi-determinate tomato cultivar that is ideal for growing in containers. The 30″-tall plants produce beefsteak-style tomatoes. So far, the ones I’ve harvested have weighed about a pound and they have a really nice flavor. The tomatoes reach maturity in 65-75 days, which was very appealing to me due to our short growing season. ‘Atlas hybrid’ gets a big thumbs-up!