Jan 22, 2025

Proven Winners ColorChoice variety gets a Green Thumb Award

Proven Winners ColorChoice variety burning bush ‘Fire Ball Seedless’ has received the National Garden Bureau’s 2025 Green Thumb Award in the shrub category of the Professional’s Choice division.

The Green Thumb Awards are an annual competition recognizing outstanding and innovative new plants and garden products. Winners are selected through two categories: the People’s Choice Award, voted on by the public and the Professional Choice Award, comprised of an independent panel of horticulture experts, including NGB members, garden communicators, breeders, retailers, brokers, and growers.

“The acknowledgment of ‘Fire Ball Seedless’ Euonymus as best new shrub in the Professional’s Choice division is an honor we deeply value,” said Natalie Carmolli, public relations specialist for Proven Winners ColorChoice. “We are pleased that these industry professionals chose to recognize importance of innovative breeding that addresses landscaping and environmental challenges.”

Spring Meadow Nursery, home of Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs, has been addressing aggressive species for years with a variety of low seed set and seedless alternatives to problematic plants. ‘Fire Ball Seedless’ is the newest addition to its noninvasive shrub collection.

Bred by Tom Ranney, Ph.D., and his crew at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station in North Carolina, ‘Fire Ball Seedless‘ provides the same blazing fall color as traditional burning bush but without the seeds and stigma. It offers the durability and color home gardeners would expect, but with no risk of spreading into wild areas like conventional burning bush.

“When breeding new plants, we are always striving to develop plants that are functional, game-changing, and generate a ‘wow’ response,” said Ranney. “But above all, we want to create plants that nurseries and gardeners will find easy and rewarding to grow.”

‘Fire Ball Seedless’ a compact, low-maintenance shrub that grows 5 to 7 feet tall and wide, thriving in Zones 4 to 8 in full sun to part shade. It is adaptable to most soils and drought-tolerant once established.

Photo courtesy of Proven Winners ColorChoice.