Ball Seed Customer Days 2025 and Virtual Tour
Sarah Makiejus Global Marketing Manager
Held in West Chicago, Illinois, USA, Ball Seed® Customer Days were a huge success! Despite the extreme heat and humidity, all customers raved about the gardens as they attended this huge industry event July 24-25, 2025.
This year, we collaborated with Landon Gibbs, the official Horticulturist of The Gardens at Ball. He designed the PanAmerican Seed beds with an emphasis on Easy Wave® Pink Pearl Spreading Petunia – to continue the celebration of Wave’s 30th Anniversary.
Each garden bed has a focus or highlights one of the newer 2026 varieties. As you walk up to the area you will immediately be hit by a sea of colour.
1. Bed number one highlights Easy Wave Pink Pearl with pops of our Blue Arrows Color Grass and highlights of our Dusty Miller.
2. Our next bed highlights the new Vinca colours pink and red with compliments from Sweet Paprika Coleus.
3. The showstopper, or the item we had the most questions about, is an oldie but a goodie that was featured last year as well…Mahogany Splendor Hibiscus. This variety has been around for quite some time and is great when used as a height element. Within this bed you’ll see the Elegant™ Hot Mix Zinnia, which is a mix that is bursting with larger-than-life colour.
4. The bed behind that displays our most recent vegetable additions: Kickstart, Geen Lightning™ Squash, and WonderStar™ Tomato to name a few.
5. The shade bed this year highlights our new colour additions to Beacon® Impatiens: Light Pink and Blue Pearl, with a stunning display of clay pipes that spilled Silver Falls Dichondra into the garden bed.
6. Across from that bed, Landon designed a pollinator paradise that really drew in attendees. A nice mix of annuals and perennials – that any pollinator would love.
7. Featured on our patio pads, we highlight combos from each type of Wave® Petunia again celebrating the anniversary.
8. The final bed and one of my personal favourites featuring Purple Prince Alternanthera, Pink Pearl Easy Wave Petunias, and Red Rooster Carex – a brilliant mix of shades that customers couldn’t stop commenting on.
Finally, the PanAmerican Seed pergola was decked out with pots and hanging baskets highlighting our latest Shock Wave® Petunia colours Rose Vein and Violet. Also being highlighted was the versatility of Beacon Impatiens and Solarscape® Interspecific Impatiens in impressive baskets. Without a doubt, it was a wonderful display and excellent growout. Special thanks to Joanna Montgomery and team from Elburn, Illinois, who delivered massive amounts of plant material for the event, making multiple trips in multiple days to finish out our look.
We can’t wait to get started on next year! In the meantime, check out the 3-D map and take a virtual tour of the PanAmerican Seed gardens.
