Ballurpico

Pelargonium

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Designer Light Pink'

Summary: 'Ballurpico' has leaf blades with a closed base while 'Designer Light Pink' has leaf blades with an open base. The zone on the upper side of the leaf blades of 'Ballurpico' has absent to very weak conspicuousness while that of 'Designer Light Pink' ranges from medium to strong conspicuousness. 'Ballurpico' has semi-double flowers while 'Designer Light Pink' has single flowers. The colour of the upper and lower petals of 'Ballurpico' differ from those of 'Designer Light Pink'. 'Ballurpico' has weak to medium conspicuous blue pink striped markings on the upper petals while 'Designer Light Pink' has no markings. The upper and lower petals of 'Ballurpico' have no white zone at the base while the upper petals of 'Designer Light Pink' have a large white zone and the lower petals have a very small white zone.

Description:

PLANT: upright growth habit
STEM: green, thick, dense pubescence

LEAF BLADE: closed base, weak degree of lobing
LEAF MARGIN: crenate, shallow incisions, medium waviness
UPPER SIDE OF LEAF BLADE: dense pubescence, medium green, no variegation
LEAF ZONE: present, absent to very weak, normal position, reddish brown
PETIOLE: dense pubescence

PEDUNCLE: dense pubescence, weak anthocyanin colouration
INFLORESCENCE: white and pink colour group
PEDICEL: no pubescence, light red middle third
SEPAL: dense pubescence, green
FLOWER BUD: elliptic
FLOWER: semi-double, entire margin
UPPER PETAL: white (RHS NN155D) and blue pink (RHS 67C) margin on upper side, white (RHS NN155D) middle and base on upper side, striped markings present, weak to medium conspicuousness of markings, blue pink (RHS 67C) marking, no white zone at base, white (RHS NN155D) and blue pink (RHS 67C) lower side
LOWER PETAL: white (RHS NN155D) and blue pink (RHS 67C) margin on upper side, white (RHS NN155D) middle of upper side, no markings, no white zone at base, white (RHS NN155D) with blue pink (RHS 67C) margin on lower side

Origin & Breeding History: 'Ballurpico' originated from a cross pollination between the female parent, proprietary breeding selection BFP-2654 and the male parent, proprietary breeding selection BFP-2927. The cross was conducted in June 2004 at Guadalupe, California, United States as part of a controlled breeding program. The initial selection of 'Ballurpico' was made in April 2005 based on picotee flower colour pattern, plant vigor and plant growth habit which matched the series. 'Ballurpico' has been propagated by vegetative cuttings since its selection.

Tests & Trials: Trials for 'Ballurpico' were conducted in a polyhouse during the summer of 2009 in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included a total of 15 plants each of the candidate and reference varieties. All plants were grown from rooted cuttings and transplanted into 15 cm pots on April 24, 2009. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants of each variety on June 25, 2009. All colour determinations were made using the 2007 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'Ballurpico' with reference variety 'Designer Light Pink'

Colour of upper petal (RHS)

Colour of lower petal (RHS)

Click on image for larger view

Pelargonium: 'Ballurpico' (left) with reference variety 'Designer Light Pink' (right)

Click on image for larger view

Pelargonium: 'Ballurpico' (left) with reference variety 'Designer Light Pink' (right)

Click on image for larger view

Pelargonium: 'Ballurpico' (left) with reference variety 'Designer Light Pink' (right)