Proven Winners® ColorChoice® varieties take multiple awards at 2024 Plantarium

Proven Winners® ColorChoice® plants achieved significant success at this year’s Plantarium 2024, held on August 21-22 in Boskoop, Netherlands.

Plantarium is a trade show-style event tailored for growers, wholesalers, and garden centers, designed to connect buyers and suppliers of garden plants. With participants and trade visitors from multiple countries, Plantarium exemplifies the international nature of the horticultural industry and is recognized as the leading wholesale market for nursery products in Europe.

Exhibitors can enter new varieties for consideration for several awards, where the best new plant varieties are recognized. Eligible plants are judged for Best Novelty, and Gold, Silver and Bronze awards in the Novelty category.

A Gold Medal Award was presented to Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Bubbly Wine® Weigela in the Novelty category of Plantarium 2024. Weigela florida ‘Floraclar’ BUBBLY WINE was submitted by Valkplant BV and was chosen by judges from the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society.

Bubbly Wine® Weigela, a selection of Fine Wine® Weigela, is distinguished by its brightly colored, stable variegation in hues of yellow, green, and burgundy. It thrives in both full sun and partial shade and is a compact, mounded variety, maturing to 1.5-3’ tall and wide. The plant blooms in late spring with dark pink flowers and was bred by Jeff Good from Southeast Michigan.

A Bronze Medal was awarded to Proven Winners ColorChoice Invincibelle Sublime™ Hydrangea arborescens, also submitted by Valkplant BV from Boskoop under the name Hydrangea arborescens ‘SMNHRL’, SUBLIME ANNABELLE®.

Invincibelle Sublime smooth hydrangea boasts large, fluffy blooms in a deeply saturated tourmaline-green that adds a refreshing and intriguing element to any garden. The vibrant green blooms are complemented by very dark green foliage. Invincibelle Sublime™ hydrangea grows to a height/width of 3.5-5’ and is hardy in USDA zones 3-9.

Commenting on the awards, Esther Wientjens, Marketing Manager at Valkplant/ColorChoice Plants EU, said, “Valkplant/ColorChoice Plants EU entered two novelties in the KVBC Novelty contest at Plantarium 2024, and we were thrilled to learn that both received awards.”

She added that the addition of the gold medal for Bubbly Wine weigela brings the total of Proven Winners® varieties that have won a KVBC gold medal to twelve.