Success with Sumo

Photos courtesy of suntory

Painting the town or your parks with petunias? Surfinia Sumo from Suntory is a vigorous landscape choice that’s well suited to large hanging baskets and containers, as well as beds. Two Midwestern growers share their success with Surfinia Sumo petunias.

ARNOLDS PARK

Roger DeVries, Cottage Gardens, Milford, Iowa

Located on the shores of West Lake Okoboji, Arnolds Park Amusement Park is one of the longest operating amusement parks in the world. For seven years, Roger DeVries has grown large, 22-inch baskets mixing three Surfinia Sumo colors — Pink, Plum and Bold Lilac. He offers the same blend in 16-inch baskets for retail sales.

The 22-inch basket has nine liners, with three liners per color.

The 16-inch basket has three liners, with one liner per color.

Why Surfinia Sumo varieties? They offer superior vigor to fill out quickly and thrive all summer. They can also hold their own against sweet potato vines in large planters.

This summer, there were 40 16-inch baskets for the town of Arnolds Park and 68 22-inch baskets for the “Imagine” beautification by the lake.

“We are up to 108 baskets and maybe more coming,” DeVries says. “We have stayed with the Sumos because they have done so well. We have a couple of mixed Surfinia baskets on our porch that look really good.”

SMALL-TOWN CHARM

Heather Pariso, The Garden Gurl Shop, New Philadelphia, Ohio

Heather Pariso is a grower-retailer who provides planting services to homeowners, businesses and a local winery. She has been sold on Sumo for some time. “Every year, I double my order on all four colors, as they keep gaining popularity with my customers,” she says. “I feel like a little goes a long way, as they are such quick growers. Plus, even in our Zone 5 Falls, which get cold in October, they are still blooming alongside mums. My personal favorite is the Glacial Pink, however, I grow and use all four colors.”

She brings in liners at the end of March and plants are ready for Mother’s Day sales.

“I have found that one plant will happily engulf a 10-inch, even 12-inch hanging basket,” she says. “The flower power is just amazing, more color than green. We have seen much better results utilizing the Sumos for both commercial and residential projects versus other varieties.”