Easy to succeed

Our first day of the California Summer Trials kicked off at Ball Horticultural's stop in Santa Paula, California. Take a look at what's new, including exciting new hues and breeding innovations that make it easier than ever for gardeners and growers to see big success.

Photo by Kate Spirgen

Petunia CannonBall

Available for 2022, in both rooted and unrooted cuttings, this new petunia series from Ball FloraPlant was selected by breeders for its uniform growth habit and penchant for success in both premium pots and hanging baskets. It also flowers relatively early on and does so with no pinching or PGR application, enabling growers to conserve precious financial and vocational resources.  

Photo by Kate Spirgen

Coleus Spitfire Micro 

This new micro coleus from Ball FloraPlant is great for small applications like balconies and small patios or the landscape. It’s incredibly versatile, performing well in both full sun and shade, indoor and outdoor. Easy to care for, it doesn’t require pinching or PGRs and is extremely late (or never) to flower.

Photo by Kate Spirgen

Coleus Limewire, Coleosaurus and Electric Lime

These new medium-vigor coleus are good in both sun and shade, making it easy for gardeners of any experience level to have success. The lime edging comes in three different colors for many combination options. Great branching makes for a full foliage plant. These coleus are also late- to never-flowering options, making them low-maintenance plants that still offer a high impact in containers or in the landscape.

Photo by Kate Spirgen

Selecta One varieties

Dalaya ‘Vampire’ Dahlia

A new, diminutive dahlia for the 2022 growing season, this eye-catching race car red dahlia is scaled down to a 4-inch pot size with a short day length requirement that is perfect for and early spring seller.

Photo by Kate Spirgen

Headliner Petunias

'Night Sky,’ 'Enchanted Sky' and ‘Starlet Midnight Sky’ feature a star-struck pattern and some seriously pallet popping hues new for 2022. "Night Sky is one that really went viral," Rotella says. This petunia automatically drops its dead flowers to reduce deadheading. The unique 'Enchanted Sky' not only features a constellation pattern but a star throat as well. It comes in small, medium and large sizes.

Photo by Kate Spirgen

Dahlita Dahlias

These 4-inch dahlias are great to add a little color to a windowsill or other small spaces. They’re ready early enough for Valentine’s Day sales at garden centers. One of the most compact and fast-to-flower dahlias, it’s a prolific bloomer with lots of small, long-lasting blooms.

Photo by Kate Spirgen

E3 Easy Wave Petunia

The three E's here are: early, efficient and evolution as Easy Wave gets a new look. Great for early sales at on 10-10.5 hours daylength, they're ready as early as late March or early April in the South. The uniform habit makes it ideal for mixing and the full habit is a show-stopper at retail. From PanAmerican Seed, the series is available in Sky Blue, Blue, Coral, Pink, Red, Pink Cosmos and White.

Darwin Perennials varieties

Photo by Kate Spirgen

Nepeta subsessilis Prelude Purple

The new purple shade grows to 3 feet in the landscape, offering pest and disease resistance. “It’s a great border option and it brings in pollinators but you don’t have to shear it back every year,” Rotella says. The versatile plant is ideal for 2.5-quart and 1-gallon pot sizes.

Homestead ‘Hot Pink’ Verbena

This variety is reportedly favored by landscapers as an intriguing, color-popping ground cover in tree lawns or other landscaped areas. It spreads outward with a fluffy carpet of hot pink flowers, and built-in mildew and disease resistance ensures minimal maintenance is required when it is placed in the landscape. Put this one down and watch it spread out cover everything in visually pleasing 2-inch neon pink blooms.

Photo by Kate Spirgen

Kieft Seed varieties

Leucanthemum ‘White Lion’

This shasta daisy is another solid candidate for the early spring sales season (10-hour day length) – and the kicker is this version doesn’t require any vernalization alongside stepped up disease resistance. The variety’s Zone 4 hardiness unlocks a significant portion of the North American flower market for cultivation, and it reportedly thrives in overwintered production scenarios.