On Saturday, the Ball team rolled out the welcome mat for guests ready to be WOWed by all the new innovations on display in our Shoppes on Main windows. The fine weather perfectly showed off all of the blooms and garden showcases, and visitors had access to information and inspiration unlike any pack trials before!

After a quick registration and refreshment in the main gathering pavilion, first stop is to Ball's one-stop Shoppes with displays by all of the impressive and high-quality Ball brands: PanAmerican Seed, Kieft-Pro-Seeds, Ball FloraPlant, and Selecta. Other store-fronts include Fantastic Foliage & Fantastic Flowers, as well as the pink-striped awning of the Wave® petunias brand. In the next few installments, we’ll talk about the hot new take-aways from each store, but for our first unveiling, it's a red carpet affair …

Best Of Ball FloraPlant

All of Ball FloraPlant's latest, most exciting products are situated in the store-front “windows”, so visitors can instantly know what the industry will be buzzing about. For instance, Ball FloraPlant product managers Kristan Mcguigan and Jim Kennedy are on-hand to remind you that, “Black goes with everything!” The NEW Black Velvet Petunia – the world’s only black petunia – pairs perfectly with any color … just the way the classic Little Black Dress shows off a hot pair of red heels or sparkling jewelry. They are eager to hear feedback from trials guests, and the response so far for Black Velvet Petunia has been tremendous! And don't forget to admire her entourage: Phantom (black with a yellow star-pattern) and Pinstripe (a deep purple base with cream striping).

These novelty petunia colors will do wonders for mixed containers by adding a sense of drama and elegance. Best of all, this wondrous new color innovation from Ball FloraPlant doesn’t require any special planting instructions… it’s a petunia! A variety home gardeners and landscapers know and love and can grow with confidence.

Another sight in the Ball FloraPlant window is a hanging basket full of Suncatcher Midnight Blue Petunias... it got a lot of attention as well! This deep, rich blue is part of an early-flowering and mounded, trailing petunia series. The color is very dark – the blue home gardeners want to plant! – and offers non-fading color through its blooming season. The basket in the Shoppe spilled over with blooms! Making guests want to take a closer look ... and take lots of photos!

And since we’re talking about deep, dark-colored flowers, we can’t miss Aztec Blue Velvet Verbena. It’s on the cover of Ball’s 2011 New Varieties catalog passed out to each spring trials visitor, and it was the darkest blue verbena at many of this year’s trials events in California. Definitely a stand-out, and one to watch consumers go nuts for!

Stay tuned for more Spring Trials intros! For those of you traveling the Pacific Coast this spring, stop by our Spring Trials Memories page to leave us your favorite trials story or record your favorite new Ball variety. Which was your favorite and why?

And remember, if you weren’t able to make the trip, follow along by viewing our Photo Gallery. We'll be posting photos every day of the trials, and encouraging our visitors to share photos, too, when they log on to their My Business or My Garden Center accounts online.