Two new decorative millets that will debut in plant nurseries nationwide this spring are the latest generation of ornamentals from University of Nebraska-Lincoln plant breeding efforts.

The newcomers, named Jester and Purple Baron, are showy hybrids of pearl millet, or Pennisetum glaucum. They're cousins to Purple Majesty, the 2003 All-America Selections Gold Medal Award-winning millet developed by David Andrews, emeritus millet breeder at the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Ball Horticultural Co., a plant and seed wholesale supplier, sells seed and young plants of all three to the commercial greenhouse industry under a licensing agreement that provides royalties to the university.

Jester and Purple Baron come from similar breeding lines as their well-known relative. Andrews started work on several ornamental millets before retiring five years ago. Since then he has volunteered his time and breeding expertise to enhance favorable traits necessary for commercialization under the agreement with Ball.

"I made several different options and (the company) chose the ones they liked," he said.

Jester (right) boasts ever-changing foliage color. Its abundant leaves are yellowish with a hint of burgundy or magenta when young and change to mostly burgundy as leaves mature. When flower spikes develop, plants develop a bronze-burgundy color, similar to Purple Majesty. Jester grows about 42 inches tall and up to 36 inches wide.

Purple Baron (left) is a compact plant that grows to about 36 inches tall and wide. Its wide leaves start out green and develop to a dark purple when exposed to full sun. It features numerous, large flower spikes and is better branched at the base than Purple Majesty.

Both are suited to gardens through the United States and southern Canada. Millets are heat-loving annuals that grow best in a sunny, well-drained site. While they tolerate poor soils and drought, they do best with early fertilization and light watering.

Andrews calls Jester, Purple Baron and, earlier, Purple Majesty, "fortuitous spinoffs" from his life's work developing sorghums and millets to feed people and livestock. All three were bred from plants with odd characteristics that he collected over the years and saved in the teaching nursery so students could study genetic differences.

It was Harlan Hamernik, a highly regarded plantsman and owner of Bluebird Nurseries at Clarkson, Neb., who spotted an unusual purple millet in a nursery field in 1996 and suggested Andrews develop it for the ornamental market. That led to Purple Majesty, which has been sold in nearly 40 countries and sparked Andrews' interest in ornamental millets.

"Being retired means you can follow your own objectives and do what you want," Andrews said. For him, that means using plant breeding skills honed in his long agricultural career to tease out the most interesting, unusual or colorful traits for the horticultural market. Instead of worrying about grain yield or feed value, he now concentrates on the plant's looks.

"It's certainly intriguing," he said. "Now I understand why retired people use their career abilities to do something they enjoy."

Andrews' millet research was conducted in cooperation with IANR's Agricultural Research Division.

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