California Spring Trials

Hardy Introductions

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to visit the Gardens at Ball in West Chicago, Illinois, for Darwin Perennials Day. I'm lucky enough to have this beautiful garden practically in my backyard, so... more »

Tell Me a Story

I hope that by now, you have received your June issue of GPN and that you’ve had a chance to read it. In case you haven’t had an opportunity to check it out yet, be... more »

Storytelling at the Trials

No two California Spring Trials are ever the same. Each year sees its trends and opportunities. Certain plant classes have their moment to shine; breeders follow consumer trends and change up their focus each season.... more »

Trialing Premium Petunias

Petunias have long been and continue to be one of the most popular plant categories in the annuals market. They are easy to care for and incredibly versatile — from the landscape to baskets and... more »

Crazy for Calibrachoa

Now that the 2018 California Spring Trials have wrapped up, I have thousands (yes ... thousands) of photos to go through and dozens of pages of notes to attempt to decipher (I tend to write... more »

Be on the Lookout

We’ve finally returned from the 2018 edition of California Spring Trials and are back to our day jobs. I am happy to report that the breeding... more »

Day 5 at the California Spring Trials

Our California Spring Trials journey has come to an end, but we saw a ton of great new introductions and marketing concepts during our final two stops. Day 5 began at the GroLink stop in... more »

Day 4 at the California Spring Trials

We're officially on our last leg of our Spring Trials tour. Day 4 began at Windmill Nursery in Buellton, where we got to see new introductions from Terra Nova Nurseries, Kientzler, 2Plant and J. Berry... more »

Day 3 at the California Spring Trials

Team GPN had another action-packed day in California. Day 3 started in Salinas where we visited American Takii and HilverdaKooij, and we also got to catch up with the folks at OHP and Philips Lighting.... more »

Day 2 at the California Spring Trials

We packed a ton of visits in our Day 2 itinerary, starting in Gilroy. Our first stop was at Kirigin Cellars where Proven Winners showcased their new introductions. Aside from the beautiful annuals, perennials and... more »