Summer Favourites in The Gardens at Ball
From hundreds of species grown in The Gardens at Ball in West Chicago, Illinois, USA, three varieties stood out above the rest this Summer. We interviewed Horticulturist and Designer Landon Gibbs where he highlights his favourite flowers from the season. Read more for Gibbs’ full plant list and find out why they got his top marks in The Gardens this year.
Tell us about your favourite PanAmerican Seed varieties in The Gardens at Ball this Summer?
LG: There were definitely three new standouts:
Sunflower Always Sunny Gold has a tall stature and created focal points in many areas of The Gardens. The bright, large flowers were budded continuously all season.
Vinca Tattoo™ Boysenberry bloomed and thrived through the hottest part of the Summer. The dark, intriguing flowers worked wonderfully in tone-on-tone colour palettes.
Tomato WonderStar™ Pink is compact in size, but still produced high yields of large fruit. The pink variety has excellent flavour, reminiscent of an heirloom but bolstered with a disease-resistance package.
I also think some tried-and-true genetics need a callout here as favourites: Hibiscus Mahogany Splendor is a workhorse not just for myself but for all landscapers. Next, Pentas Lucky Star® was fantastic all Summer long. They love the heat, and the bees and butterflies love them!
Where in the gardens were each of these varieties planted?
LG: Always Sunny Gold was planted in our Gateway garden and in the PanAmerican Seed area, as was the Vinca Tattoo. The WonderStar Tomato was planted in our veggie garden bed.*
What other plants or flowers would you pair with these?
LG: With Hibiscus Mahogany Splendor, I like to pair this variety with yellow/light-colored coleus for contrast. It also pairs beautifully with silver or cool-toned plants like Dichondra Silver Falls, or Eucalyptus. Also, the Pentas Lucky Star® Violet is planted with Euphorbia Glamour in The Gardens.
You’ve created some amazing colour palettes. For each of these varieties, which colour palette did you feature them in The Gardens?
LG: I often used the Vinca Boysenberry in tone-on-tone colour palettes, focusing on rich burgundies and then bright fuchsias. With the Sunflowers, I paired them with bright, white flowers to highlight the yellow and keep things summery.
*You can find these colourful and impressive varieties by taking a virtual tour through The Gardens at Ball.
