Seed Company Unveils New Flower Colors

PanAmerican Seed Company’s seed research and production facility in Santa Paula recently unveiled the company’s new flower varieties. The facility is responsible for evaluating the production performance of the seeds prior to shipping them off to distributors worldwide this summer for fall release to the public.

Topping the list of new bedding plants are the Deco Crystal, a bronze-leafed impatiens with a white fluke highlighted by a pink blush; and the Neon Rose Dreams, a magenta petunia.

“The Deco Crystal represents the first time an impatiens has had that color combination,” said Blair Busenbark, PanAmerican’s West Coast marketing representative. “And the magenta of the Neon Rose is a new color class for petunias.”

PanAmerican, owned by the Geo. J. Ball corporation of Chicago, researches, breeds, produces and markets seeds. The company’s California division, which has a staff of about 50, has been located in Santa Paula for three years. PanAmerican has about 350 distributors worldwide, including the Burpee Seed Co., which is also owned by Geo. J. Ball.

Last year, in what Busenbark termed a major breakthrough in the industry, PanAmerican became the first flower seed company to provide yield figures on its seed packets.

“If a packet says the seed has a 94% yield potential,” he said, “then if the (consumer) plants 1,000 seeds, following the normal practice, they should have 940 flowers.”

Busenbark said yield figures will allow growers and home gardeners to more efficiently plan for their final product. The figures allow retailers to better forecast sales.