Cool Wave Pansy 'Violet Wing'

If you want to insult a man, call him a pansy. It's one of those words that can be used in mixed company and stings without the need to resort to profanity. But the only man that will take umbrage with being called a pansy is a man who hasn't grown one in a garden before. A man that gardens knows pansies are tough. Pansies are among the few annuals you can plant in your garden in the spring that will take the cold and rain and keep coming back. This year I grew 'Violet Wing' pansies that came in the plant sample box that Ball Horticulture sent out to garden communicators to trial in our gardens.

Petunia 'Black Cherry'

Petunia Debonair 'Black Cherry' is a new introduction from the Ball Horticultural. I believe this black petunia will be widely available next year. I received a few plugs of the 'Black Cherry' petunia this spring from Ball to trial in my garden. As a lover of black plants and flowers I was really excited about trialing another dark blooming plant.

'Mahogany Splendor' Hibiscus

I haven't grown a tender or tropical hibiscus in my garden since the year I forgot to bring one in before the first frost and it died. The joy of growing a potted hibiscus all summer long doesn't make up for the stress at the end of the season caused by deciding between attempting to overwinter it inside or composting it. I was pretty sure I was done with non-hardy hibiscuses in my garden until last year when I toured the gardens at Ball Horticulture. I saw what I thought was an amazing Japanese maple from a distance. When I ran up to it I discovered it was a 'Mahogany Splendor' Hibiscus.

'Boxwood' Basil

I've been thinking a lot about basil this spring and wishing I had land to grow a lot of basil. In particular, I really want to grow a knot garden of 'Boxwood' basil and inside the geometric shapes plant dark basil varieties like 'Purple Ruffles' and 'Dark Opal.' I didn't grow the 'Boxwood' basil picture below, it was photographed at the gardens of Ball Horticulture, but all winter I've been revisiting the picture in my computer.

Seed Lab at Ball Horticultural Company

Even though the average home gardener, like myself, isn’t a direct customer of the Ball Horticultural Company many of the packaged seeds and plants we buy at garden centers and nurseries were developed by Ball Hort. An example being petunia ‘Black Cat’ which is the world’s first black petunia. Recently, I was invited on a tour of the gardens at Ball in West Chicago, Illinois., which include container gardens, a seed lab, example gardens for vegetable and shade gardening, and a trial garden where Ball Hort plants are grown alongside competitor’s plants. If you’ve read this garden blog with any regularity you may have noticed that seeds are regular topics so I jumped at the chance of touring a seed lab. Below are a couple of pictures from the seed lab that I thought other seed-obsessed gardeners may find interesting.

Coleus, Petunias, Euphorbias And Impatiens From Ball Horticultural Company

A couple of weeks ago the Ball Horticultural Company sent me a free trial pack of some of their annuals to plant in my garden. The box arrived during a weekend that I was unexpectedly busy and stayed closed for a couple of days. Then, the weather turned really hot after I put the plants out and they didn't like it. I've begged and pleaded with these annuals to recuperate and they're bouncing back nicely. What garden annuals came in the package from Ball Hort? I'm glad you asked. Two petunias, two coleus, some euphorbias and impatiens- great for container gardening.