LADYBUG SAYS...NEW FLORASTAR POTTED PLANTS OFFER VERSATILITY

Just like Missouri's weather, trends in gardening change.

Most all gardeners are familiar with the well known All-America Selections for seed propagated garden plants, and depend on these winners for outstanding plants in their home gardens.

There is a new program designed to evaluate and promote superior potted plants and cut flowers. It is known as Flora Star and is patented for flowering and foliage plants sold only in pots.

The first FloraStar winners were available to gardeners in 1990, but news releases are just coming out regarding these "designer plants." Two trials are held each year for spring and fall production crops. Trial sites have been selected to represent a cross-section of geographic areas and include a select group of commercial growers, industry suppliers and universities.

The 1993 FloraStar Winners include Burgundy Clown and Blue and White Clown torenias; Estoma Blue Lisa; Streptocarpus Thalia, Floribunda Geraniums--Marilyn, Judy and Grace and Kalanchoe Majestic.

Budget conscious gardeners will find these potted plants provide indoor flowers that last much longer than cut flowers. Some can be moved outside to a flower bed or to a patio for additional months of color. They are a small, affordable indulgence for homeowners who want to decorate quickly, inexpensively and with something unusual.

Burgundy Clown and Blue and White Clown torenia, are hybrids of an old fashioned garden flower now appreciated for both its beauty in a pot or as a bedding plant.

Older torenias usually have color only on the side petals, but these two new ones have a solid ring of bright color outside, while the rest of bloom is a pure, crisp white with a yellow throat.

A quick growing summer flower, they soon cover themselves with blooms that continue until frost. You may also recall torenias by the name wishbone flower, so called for the wishbone-shape stamen in the center of the blossoms. They are hybrid descendants of the 1989 All-America winner, Torenia Clown Mix, a medley of flowers in five shades of pink and blue.

You may have seen Eustoma as a cut flower, but it is even more popular as a potted plant. Also, known as lisianthus, is a relative of the prairie gentian, a plant native to Texas.

Blue Lisa has proven most successful both indoors and out at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, according to Opryland's horticulture manager. "It lasted five to six weeks under the skylights of the Cascade Gardens and guests loved it because the flowers were so blue and unusual."

It is important to note that Blue Lisa does not like soil that is too acid, so add lime to the ground or potting mix. Ideal pH is 6.2 to 6.5. Blue Lisa rarely grows taller than 8 to 10 inches, even in the garden, so plant in the front of a bed. The striking deep blue and blue-gray foliage are outstanding mixed with the bright blooms and narrow green foliage of Star White zinnia.

Remember the old streptocarpus? They had beautiful big blooms but often left one wishing there were more of them. Thalia, the new FloraStar introduction is that wish come true.

Thalia is a botanical cousin of the African Violet and lives indoors for years, blooming year-round cycles like a violet. However, it is far less temperamental than a violet. The ideal temperature is from 62 and 75 degrees, but too much heat will slow its growth and flowering. After a heavy blooming period it likes to take a rest.

You have heard of floribunda petunias and floribunda roses--terms synonymous with "abundant flowers", but have you heard of floribunda geraniums? Unlike the popular zonal geraniums that bear big clusters of flowers on tall stems, this is an entirely new class of geraniums, but many more of them, and on plants that spread and stay low. Judges have found them particularly outstanding for their value in the gardens of hot, sunny areas.

The girls are--Marilyn, a bright pink, Judy a medium coral and Grace, a light pink.

Floribunda geraniums do not like acid soil. It is important to avoid soil mixes that contain peat moss if they are not pH adjusted, a gardener should add lime to raise the pH to between 6.2 and 6.5.

Treat them like annuals and leave the to their end by frost. Old plants get woody and will not produce.

Discover what Europeans already know--the value of kalanchoe. Europe is the largest producer of kalanchoe. They know that kalanchoe blooms last six weeks or longer and they are exceedingly easy to grow.

Majestic is a rose red with large flowers, long-lasting qualities and is an outstanding partner for maidenhair ferns.

You will find these FloraStars at local garden centers this spring.