Wednesday, July 19th was Darwin Perennials Day at Ball Horticultural Company in West Chicago, and the gardens were abuzz with activity. I took a walk around to get a look at the perennial trial gardens in full bloom, as well as plants from more than two dozen perennial vendors from across the country. Our own Chris Beytes was on the scene with multiple cameras and his drone, Snoopy, to capture the action. Despite a forecast of rain (which never quite materialized), there was a big gathering of perennial fans eager to learn about young and finished plants and supplies.

Below is an arial shot of the event taken by Snoopy. You can see the beautiful perennial trial gardens and tents set up for vendors to showcase their products.  

GrowerTalks’ Jen Zurko shot Chris’ walk-through of the new variety highlights with Darwin Sales & Marketing Manager Leland Toering. You can view that video HERE.

Chris and Jen also asked some of the perennial vendors a couple of hard-hitting questions, namely, “Are perennials in or out?” and “What’s trending in perennials right now?” To get those answers, watch that video HERE.

The next event on the roster for Ball (believe me, it’s a busy summer around here), is the Ball Field and Landscape Day. Known around Ball as “Customer Day,” it’s the biggest event of the year at Ball Horticultural Company in West Chicago, Illinois. This event is an opportunity for visitors to check out all the new varieties in the 7 acres of gardens, get a tour of the Ball Premier Lab and Seed Distribution department, have lunch in the big tent and chat with Anna Ball. You can also see me and otherGrowerTalks staff there; we have a booth in the café, and Chris, Jen and the other editors will be out in the gardens. If you see us, be sure to stop and say hi! To register, visit www.ballcustomerday.com.

Interested in creating a wildflower meadow to support New England’s native pollinators? Come and learn fun, effective and beautiful ways to enhance your local habitat and bring back pollinators at the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station’s Woodman Horticultural Research Farm at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. The Field Day is titled, “Connecting the Dots for Pollinator Conservation: Wildflower Meadows and Pollinator Habitat” and it will take place from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the farm at 70 Spinney Lane. As with the other events, there will be both expert presentations and garden tours. Register by calling 603-862-3200 or online HERE. 

If you’ll be at Cultivate'19 (and you should be, it’s one of the biggest shows in the hort industry), be sure to head over to Unplugged on Monday, July 15, at 8 p.m. It’s at 520 Park Street, just a short walk from the convention center, and it’s where we’ll be awarding this year’s GrowerTalks/Nexus Young Grower and Green Profit/RBI Young Retailer Awards. Come enjoy trivia and a rooftop bar, as well as tons of opportunities for networking.

Wondering who to root for? Here are our finalists:

GrowerTalks/Nexus Young Grower Award:
Brian Austin — Dutch Heritage Gardens, Larkspur, Colorado
Tonya Diehl — Sunny Farms, Inc., Sequim, Washington
John Terhesh — Willoway Nurseries, Inc., Avon, Ohio

Green Profit/RBI Young Retailer Award
Madison Williams — Boulevard Flower Gardens, South Chesterfield, Virginia
Tanner Jones — Helmi’s Gardens, Columbia, Missouri
Morgan Huston — Birdsall & Co., Englewood, Colorado

Join Mason Day (of GrowIt!) and me as we do our best Tina Fey/Amy Poehler routine when we present these coveted awards. You won’t want to miss it!

To register for Cultivate’19, visit http://www.cultivate19.org/