Congrats to these BallFloraPlant Varieties from the Latest Garden Trials

Need to Know

• Award-winning genetics validated across North America: Ball FloraPlant earned top honors at multiple 2026 trial programs, including Raker-Roberta’s, the University of Georgia, Colorado State University, and Penn State.
• Proven garden performance in challenging conditions: Many winning varieties were recognized for exceptional heat tolerance, weather resilience, continuous flowering, and strong landscape performance.
• Strong retail and landscape appeal: Trial judges praised these varieties for vibrant colors, pollinator attraction, container versatility, and balanced growth habits.

Ball FloraPlant earned top honors at several 2026 Plant Trials. Congratulations to the varieties that received an excellent grade and were standouts in the garden this season.

Raker-Roberta’s Young Plant Trial Gardens

At Raker Roberta’s Trials Gardens, over 3,100 varieties were trialed. Ball FloraPlant had a number of standouts that had a 5.0 rating. Here are the new varieties with top honors:

Fuchsia – Blue Radiance and Dollarita™

Lantana Shamrock™ Cherry Sunrise

Petchoa CitraNova™ – Lemon Zest and Limone

Scaevola Blazen™ – Blue, White, and Compact Blue

Coleus ChargedUp™ Keylime Fringe

The University of Georgia Flower Trials (UGA)

Fuchsia Blue Radiance won a Classic City Award. According to the trial, “Fuchsia has a reputation for wanting cooler weather, but Blue Radiance gave an amazing performance here in the Southeast, and in partial shade! The blue hue adds artistic flair to our hanging baskets and containers.”

Celosia Intenz™ Dark Purple won a Classic City Award. According to the trial, “The Intenz Dark Purple stands out as a high-impact thriller that is easy to grow in any hot spot in the garden.”

Coleus ChargedUp™ Prismatic won “Industry Favorite” from Greenhouse Growers.

Colorado State University Trials

At the CSU Trials, Ball FloraPlant received “Best Of” 2026 awards for:

Geranium Solera™ Orange is “Great for the planting beds or for containers,” according to the trial.

Petchoa SuperCal® Premium Sunset Orange featured “the unique, clear orange color, with undertones of yellow,” according to the trial. “It didn’t fade in the heat and seemed to glow when backlit by the early morning or late afternoon sun. Heavy rain? Or perhaps overhead irrigation in the landscape — don’t worry, the flowers hold up and bounce back almost immediately, keeping up the show.”

Salvia Mystic Spires had “Masses of tall, intense blue flowering spires, held on strong, sturdy plants, persist for weeks on end — providing our pollinator friends a seemingly endless buffet. If you’re looking for a tried-and-true salvia for the landscape — whether it’s in the border or perhaps for a container — there’s no mystery on this one!” according to the trial.

Scaevola Blazen White. According to the trial, “This fan flower has great vigor but isn’t too vigorous to take over. Great for containers — on its own or with other plant friends, especially other pollinator friendly plants.”

MixMasters™ Bold Horizons combination planter was “Nothing meager about this combination. The three varieties in this mix all play well with each other, and not one overpowering another. The bold purple and white verbena, striking red petunia, and the dark orange calibrachoa play off of each other all season with continuous flower power.”

Verbena Firehouse™ Violet Vortex was “a stellar performer in the container (and in the ground). The hundreds and hundreds of eye-catching deep purple flowers, overlayed with a bright, crisp white stripe was mesmerizing. The purple color did not fade in the harsh sun—providing a consistent showy flower display.”

Ageratum Monarch Magic™ “works well in containers or in the landscape. It mingles well with other plants providing a nice soft-purple blue color floating atop the crisp, dark green foliage all summer into the fall,” according to the trial.

Other highlights from 2026 Flower Trials

Salvia Mystic Spires received a Best in Show with a perfect score at The Penn State Flower Trials. Its sun container results had a rating of 5.0 across the board the entire length of the 2026 trial.