Blog

We had a great time at CAST24 this year. It was full of exciting conversations, beautiful plants and wonderful weather up and down the California coastline. Here, our team shares a few of our Top Picks from CAST24 that you’ll sure to be ordering for your next growing season.

Picks from Jim Kennedy, Director of North American Sales

• Monarch Magic Ageratum, Ball FloraPlant – Attracts so many butterflies and blooms throughout the season
• New Tropica™ Dipladenia and Mandevilla, Ball FloraPlant – such as Tropica Modesto Red Dipladenia
• New Beacon® Impatiens mixes, PanAmerican Seed – such as the Chicago Mix
• New Wave® Petunia colors, PanAmerican Seed – such as Easy Wave® Navy Velour
• Summerlong™ Lemon Agastache, Darwin Perennials – Earlier to bloom and is easy to mix for high-end combos

^{Clockwise: Monarch Magic Ageratum, Easy Wave Navy Velour Petunia, Beacon Impatiens Chicago Mix, Tropica Modesto Red Dipladenia}

Picks from John Steinlage, Regional Business Manager

• Sunfinity® Double Yellow Sunflower, Syngenta – New vegetative option with new flower form to a successful branded product
• SuperCal® Premium Pink Mist Petchoa, Sakata – Spring color addition to a proven weather tolerant series
• Masterpiece Lobelia, Benary – Improved seed alternative to vegetative varieties
• MiniFamous® Uno Ember Eclipse Calibrachoa, Selecta – Love the unique color that can work for summer or fall combinations
• Summerlong Series Agastache, Darwin – Great pollinator plant that adds texture to combinations with both perennials and annuals

^{Clockwise (left to right): Capella Fuchsia Lace Petunia, Cannova Golden Leopard Canna, SuperCal Premium Pink Mist, Masterpice Lobelia, and MiniFamous Uno Ember Eclipse Calibrachoa}

Picks from Jaime Kedrowski, Marketing Manager

• Cannova® Golden Leopard Canna, Takii – An impressive addition to the Canna Cannova line, bright yellow blooms with orange leopard-like spots that will pop in combinations. Golden Leopard will also be in the Gardens at Ball this Summer, see at Customer Days
• Capella™ Fuchsia Lace Petunia, Danziger – Stunning Pink petunia blooms that complement a wide color palette making this petunia an easy choice for combinations & hanging baskets
• SuperCal® Premium Rose Star Petchoa, Sakata – Same as John's comment, Spring color addition to proven weather tolerant series
• Monarch Magic Ageratum, Ball FloraPlant – One-of-a-kind spreading ageratum with beautiful purple blooms that attract Monarch butterflies to your garden! Monarch Magic will also be in the Gardens at Ball this Summer, see at Customer Days
• Dart™ Series Dianthus, PanAmerican Seed – Impressive retail-ready color from this series & added benefit of no heat required during crop production

Get the latest availability for these amazing varieties through Ball Seed WebTrack, or by calling 800 879-BALL and a customer service representative will be there to answer any questions.

Virtual Tours

We captured a 3D image of some of the showcases at this year's California Spring Trials. Click below to take a virtual tour of the Ball FloraPlant Greenhouse at CAST24. 

GrowerTalks CAST24 Coverage

Don’t forget to check out the video coverage from CAST24 with the GrowerTalks team. They toured all the trial stops in California, and their video content is second to none! Be sure to take the time to watch each video for the team’s journalistic commentary, especially if you weren’t able to make the trek to California this spring.