2026 Patriotic Combinations
Get Ready for an Epic Birthday Party for the USA!
As the US prepares to mark its Semiquincentennial anniversary on July 4, 2026, the nation comes together for a year-long celebration of freedom, unity, and the enduring spirit that defines us.
What better way to honor this momentous milestone than with vibrant displays of red, white, and blue? Our patriotic flower combinations—featuring petunias, Kwik Kombos™, verbena, and vinca—bring the colors of freedom to life in gardens, patios, and public spaces. These stunning blooms offer an easy and beautiful way for growers, retailers, and home gardeners to join in the celebration, creating living tributes that capture the joy and pride of this historic occasion.
FotoFinish™ and FlashForward™
Fotofinish™ delivers extremely uniform, early flowering plants with masses of color for high-impact retail and long-lasting gardens. Its mounded habit enables high-density growing with fewer PGRs.
Flash Forward™ is a miniature spreading petunia ideal for baskets and mixed containers, flowering in nine to 10 weeks. Tidy plants hold longer at retail and bloom freely all summer, even in difficult conditions.
Pictured Right: FlashForward™ Patiot Mix
FlashForward™ Petunia 1.5 gal (10-inch) Hanging Baskets
FotoFinish™ Petunia 1.5 gal. (10-inch) Hanging Basket Program
TECH TIPS
- Providing high light, applying PGRs for toning and holding and ‘growing on the dry side’ will help keep FlashForward™ and FotoFinish™ more compact.
- Focus on proper nutrition by monitoring pH at 5.5-5.9 and EC at 1.5-2.1 mS/cm (SME) or the Pourthru Method at 2.3-3.2 mS/cm.
- Applying Alesco® 1 to 2 weeks before finish date will improve retail shelf life.
Additional Resources
Kwik Kombos™
Kwik Kombos™ offers patriotic combinations to help you join in the festivities with red, white, and blue displays. Select from this ready-made retail program, tested and selected for matching uniformity and longevity.
Pictured Right: Kwik Kombo™ Lanai® Summer Celebration™ Mix
Kwik Kombos™ 10-inch Hanging Basket Program
Tech Tips
- Fertility: Target a Media pH: 5.8–6.2; Media EC: SME EC: 1.5–2.7 mS/cm, PourThru EC: 2.0–3.5 mS/cm using a well-balanced N:K ratio fertilizer at 200–250 ppm nitrogen.
- Temperature: Focus on an average daily temperature (ADT) of 66–68 °F (19–20 °C) for Kwik Kombos containing petunia, calibrachoa and/or verbena, and an ADT of 70-72°F (21-22 °C) for heat-loving Kwik Kombos.
- PGRs: For early summer production with warmer temperatures, multiple applications of PGRs will be needed to keep growth in check and to help tone. Bonzi® drenches work well for about four weeks before finishing. Start with drench rates between 2-3 ppm for KKs containing verbena, petunias, and calibrachoas and 0.5-2 ppm for KKs containing Angelonia, lantana and scaevola.
Additional Resources
Blockbuster™
This best-in-class F1 vinca series packs a punch for mixed combinations and landscape plantings with well-branched plants, improved earliness, and extra-large flowers that maintain their perfect form even in extreme conditions. Bold color intensity and floriferous structure provide superior impact at retail and enduring flower-power in the landscape.
Pictured Right: Blockbuster™ Patriot Mix
Target: Week 20 - Vinca: Blockbuster™ 1.5 gal (10-inch) Hanging Baskets
TECH TIPS
- Start with a disinfected growing area and keep media pH below 5.8 to help avoid Thielaviopsis infections.
- Cora® XDR vinca has a high resistance to Phytophthora nicotianae; however, they are not immune to the disease. For this reason, we highly recommend chemical rotations as part of a responsible and critical disease resistance maintenance program. Apply fungicides to control several other diseases that can infect vinca, such as Thielaviopsis, Rhizopus, Rhizoctonia, Pythium and Tospovirus (INSV and TSWV).
- Vinca needs high light and warm temperatures. Provide light at 14-16 mols.m-2.d-1 and ADT of 74-76 °F (23-24 °C). Do not try to finish vinca too early in the Spring season to avoid cold temperatures.
- PGRs on vinca are mostly used in pack production. Never apply Bonzi® to vinca as leaf spotting will occur. Use sprays of B-Nine® WSG at 2,500–5,000 ppm or A-Rest® at 2–4 ppm are recommended, if needed.
Be sure to submit your seed orders for 2026 or submit your plug programs soon, and be sure to check out our Blockbuster and Cora XDR vinca landing pages. Be sure to submit your seed orders for 2026 or submit your plug programs soon.