Violas: Small But Mighty In The Landscape

Jeff Gibson - Ball Seed Landscape Business Manager
Thursday, March 5, 2020
 

As the weather warms across the continent, our landscape clients begin to dream of spring flowers. If you're a landscape professional, you know that frost still challenges us in the North until May — and recently into June. In Southern markets we need tough-but-pretty flowers to see us through to the beginning of summer color.

Voilà … Sorbet Viola!

These mini-sized, Thomas-Jefferson-planted Johnny jump-ups can take what mother nature tends to deal us in the spring. The range of spring-y colors and mixes in the Sorbet and Sorbet XP series are sizable: 44 colors and +12 mixes!

Sorbet Viola is absolutely the best in massed plantings. Few bedding plants can be planted on 6-in. centers and still perform without getting leggy. Thriving through rain is no problem since the smaller blooms pop right back. Small but mighty.

And they are tough, tough, tough! Also pretty, pretty, pretty in their spring pinks, pastels and bi-colors. It's sure to thrill and delight your customers.



Generally speaking, the price point for Violas make this a reasonable proposition for most landscape sites. With a spring transplant-to-finish grow time of 6-9 weeks for Sorbet, and 5-6 for the award-winning Quicktime series, you have ample time to grow the crop and still have room to space summer color adequately.

If it's spring baskets and containers you need to fill, Cool Wave spreading pansy is the way to go. Growers in the South get the advantage of earlier light, which leads to fuller pots and packs of Cool Wave — the only truly spreading pansy for baskets and containers.

Stuck for what to pick for your landscape customers, or spring baskets? Click here for a downloadable Pansy & Viola Color Guide (or email me and I'll send you a printed copy.)

And be sure to return to Sorbet Violas in the fall. With so many fall and Halloween colors it's spooky!

Happy spring, everyone!

 
 
Article originally appeared on BallLandscape.com. See website for complete article licensing information.