2026 California Spring Trials Wrap-Up
Here at Ball Seed, we continue to partner with superior breeding companies allowing us to serve our customers with first-class products in flowers and plants.
There were quite a few perennial highlights like the new DayScape Daylilies from Darwin Perennials, Dümmen Orange True North program, and Syngenta with perennial supply coming from their own farm in Kenya starting this year. Compact varieties were a huge hit, such as the new Rudbeckia from American Takii, City Lights Compact from Selecta One, and SunPatiens® Petite Impatiens from Sakata.
Check out the video playlist below. Each one features the standout products from the breeding companies Ball Seed partners with, so watch the reels and see what you might have missed from this year’s California Spring Trials!
Claire Rudbeckia from American Takii, AAS winner
This brightly colored Rudbeckia has a tidy and compact habit with lots of flowers that have no pollen. It produces an abundance of spectacular blooms and is a powerful performer in containers.
CitraNova™ Petchoa, Dollarita™ Fuchsia, and new Blazen™ Scaevola from Ball FloraPlant®
Combining the best of petunias and calibrachoas, CitraNova Petchoa blooms long into the summer season. Its semi-mounded habit spreads and fills out containers with bright, vibrant colors. The Dollarita series of Fuchsia features large double flowers and blooms one week earlier than other varieties on the market. Also from Ball FloraPlant is Scaevola that is super floriferous and freely branches. Also available in a compact variety that flowers early.
SunPatiens Petites Impatiens from Sakata
This new series from Sakata is called SunPatiens Petites. They’re perfect for container gardening with great uniformity in a six-inch hanging basket (from just one cutting!). Continuous flowering with big blooms all summer long in both sun and shade.
DayScape Daylilies from Darwin Perennials
Darwin Perennials introduces a new series called DayScape Daylilies, which are early bloomers. Not only are they highly resistant to rust, but these perennials bloom all season and are available in a variety of colors.
Whopper® Rose Espresso Begonia from Benary
Seed and plug varieties of the Whopper® Rose Expresso Begonia are now available from Benary. It’s an excellent choice for the landscape thanks to its large, vigorous plants and exceptional bloom size. The dark leaves really add a nice contrast to the rose-colored flowers on this specific variety.
Always Sunny Sunflower from PanAmerican Seed®
Always Sunny Gold Sunflower offers a new cut flower for home gardeners that is 100% pollen free! It is a robust plant with greener leaves and upright stems, and is more compact in the greenhouse.
True North Perennial Program from Dümmen Orange
The True North Perennial Program offers top notch varieties including Achillea, Lavender and Phlox to name a few. They are considered top performers from Zone 3 and all the way into the south. These varieties are sent to Canada and fully evaluated after two subsequent winters before they are accepted into this program.
City Lights™ Compact Dahlia and EverLast Dianthus from Selecta One®
Selecta One is offering a new Dahlia series called City Lights Compact. In other news, their Dianthus cuttings now come directly from Kenya, which means more reliability for our customers. The EverLast RedFlash Dianthus is hardy in Zone 5, has reliable blooms and performs well in the landscape.
Perennial Supply Chain news and new Dipladenia from Syngenta Flowers
The company recently announced the seamless transition for all of their URC perennials after week 40. Syngenta Flowers’ URC perennial material will now be coming from their farm in Kenya. As a result, greenhouse growers can order stoiches type lavenders in a variety of purple hues.
As for the new Dipladenia, Syngenta now offers growers cuttings that aren’t going to yellow and drop leaves during production, as well as technical advice that will help grow a successful program week by week.