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ϲʿ releases celebration hybrid bermudagrass

ϲʿ releases celebration hybrid bermudagrass

ϲʿ and Sod Solutions representatives display their new Celebration Hybrid Bermudagrass
ϲʿ and Sod Solutions celebrated the release of a new bermudagrass: Celebration Hybrid. Participating in the introduction of the new turf are Jay McCurdy, ϲʿ Plant and Soil Sciences turfgrass associate professor; Jim Mitchell, ϲʿ Office of Technology Management licensing associate; Scott Willard, director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station; and Wayne Philley, ϲʿ retired research associate and turfgrass breeder of Celebration Hybrid. Representatives from Sod Solutions include Tobey Wagner, president; Roberto Gurgel, executive director of research; Christian Broucqsault, chief operating officer; and Mark Kann, Florida territory manager.

ϲʿ’s Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station officially released Celebration Hybrid™ Bermudagrass (experimental name MSB 1017) at the 2022 Turfgrass Research Field Day on Sept. 22, 2022, held in Starkville, MS.

The new cultivar is the first release out of the “Celebration X” breeding program, which stemmed from the idea of cross-pollinating with numerous attractive bermudagrass genotypes collected and maintained over the years at ϲʿ to create new lines. The goal of the program was to take all of the top characteristics of Celebration while developing new lines with better cold tolerance, a finer texture, fewer seed heads and less thatch. The Celebration X breeding program was initiated in 2014 as a partnership between ϲʿ and Sod Solutions, a turfgrass research, development and marketing company.

“I first evaluated Celebration Bermudagrass while visiting Australia in the late 90s,” said Sod Solutions President Tobey Wagner. “Since then, Celebration has proven itself time and time again as a beautiful, aggressive and drought-resistant grass. We are excited to release the next progenies of Celebration, with Celebration Hybrid being the first official release from the Celebration X Program. Over the past eight years, the team at Mississippi State has done an outstanding job on the research and development of these new cultivars. Congratulations to former ϲʿ breeder Wayne Philley and everyone involved in the release of this new grass.”

Celebration’s ability to block well, resist drought and endure shade better than other bermudas has made it one of the best options for homes, sports, golf, commercial areas and parks.

Philley spearheaded the research and evaluation of this project and thinks Celebration Hybrid is an appropriate name for MSB-1017. “It may also be looked upon as Celebration ‘refined’. I hope turf managers and sod producers who love Celebration will also love Celebration Hybrid. The improvements of finer leaf texture and fewer seedheads may allow it to be even more attractive than Celebration in certain applications,” he shared.

Philley, a former research associate in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, considers Celebration to be an outstanding, unique bermudagrass cultivar and as a turfgrass evaluator and breeder he’s been observing the performance of the grass in university research plots as well as s