4 x Burpee Europe varieties short-listed for ‘RHS Plant of the Year’
The Burpee Europe team are pleased to announce that they have not one, not two, not three…but FOUR varieties shortlisted for the RHS Plant of the Year 2023!
The following Burpee bred items have been shortlisted in the top 19 finalists of the RHS Plant of the Year. Sunflower ‘Desire Red’, Tomato ‘Bliss’, Salvia ‘Purple Spring’ and Echinacea ‘Pink Shimmer’. It is unheard of for any breeder to have four plants in the competition.
4 x Burpee Europe varieties short-listed for ‘RHS Plant of the Year’
Plants of each variety will be shown in the RHS Plant of the Year display area at the Chelsea Flower Show in the Great Pavilion. The results will be announced on Tuesday morning, May 23rd.
Sunflower ‘Desire Red’
The brand new, compact sunflower ‘Desire Red’ is so fabulous that it has already won a much coveted Fleuroselect Gold Medal, scores are awarded for outstanding innovation, beauty and garden performance. A truly stunning breakthrough in sunflower breeding, this is the first compact red variety suitable for planting or sowing in both beds and borders as well as in larger patio containers.
Tomato ‘Bliss’
A joy to behold and to eat! Tomato ‘Bliss’ offers tasty fruit temptations that are almond-shape, and full of mirth! With a lightly sweet flavour, the 30 gram tomatoes ripen to a dazzling yellow with unique green stripes. These snackable fruits are irresistible fresh off the vine. The heavy yielding plants offer a happy windfall of tomatoes from the height of summer until frost. ‘Bliss’ offers loads of bold colour for party trays and salads
Salvia ‘Purple Spring’
This Salvia x sylvestris is an exceptionally early flowering plant with a joyous display of deep purple flowers from mid May until early July. ‘Purple Spring’ does not set seeds which encourages prolific flowering on the 65cm tall plants. Bees absolutely love this variety and we were going to call it ‘Purple Banquet’ because of the feeding frenzy it causes. In the end though we settled with ‘Purple Spring’ to denote its early season display.
Echinacea ‘Pink Shimmer’
One of Burpee’s most outstanding perennials. This traditional Echinacea purpurea selection has showy flat flowers that are an iridescent magenta pink, borne on 90cm long stems. Insect pollinators flock to these blooms from June to August and are its real showstopper in the garden. So much so that it was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit (RHS AGM) in 2020.
All of these plants will be displayed on the South West in Bloom and Burpee Europe garden named ‘Learning to Grow, Gather and Show‘, in the Great Pavilion, site GPF090
The garden, which was designed by Jon Wheatley and in collaboration with Terry Porter, will be displaying an array of brand new Burpee varieties and also firm favourites too.
Burpee Europe do not sell direct to the consumer, but their seeds are sold via top UK seed companies. Details of these on request from rabbitattackpr@gmail.com or 07895184395
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