Well-matched to the popular hybrid ‘Butterfly’
series, compact and early-blooming new ‘Butterfly Red’ produces
white-eyed flowers in a deeper, truer red than Cherry Red. While
the florets and umbels are slightly smaller than Cherry Red, the overall
plant is more free-flowering and better branched.
The first F1 hybrid pentas on the market, ‘Butterfly’
offers an outstanding opportunity for Northern growers and gardeners.
Hybrid plant vigor gives the ‘Butterfly’ series its winning qualities.
‘Butterfly’ produces larger flowers and umbels, withstands stressful
conditions, and shows off better garden performance than other commercial
seed varieties on the market today. More vigorous and better matched than
the standard seed-propagated varieties, ‘Butterfly’ stands out in both
northern and southern gardens.
Trials show ‘Butterfly’ to be approximately
20 to 50% larger than the competition in 4-in. (10-cm) pots. Outdoors, ‘Butterfly’
grows into a much larger and fuller plant – with its faster growth rate
and better "fill power," southern plantings of ‘Butterfly’
have produced plants 4 to 5 times larger! Growers will find the
versatility of ‘Butterfly’ a production "plus" – plants
can be grown and marketed in pots ranging from 4 in. (10 cm) to gallon
containers. This is a series that can definitely command a premium price!
Growers who have only produced vegetative pentas
will be pleased with the vigor of ‘Butterfly.’ Finishing with a
comparable size to vegetative, ‘Butterfly’ is more economical to grow.
‘Butterfly’ has a quick crop time from plugs and a lower input cost
than cuttings.
