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| Wave® Purple petunias and the big wave at Gardens at Ball. |
Ball Horticultural Company, a family-owned business since it was founded in 1905, is the country's largest horticultural seed company. It may also be the biggest flower producer you've never heard of. Ball is an internationally known breeder, producer and distributor of ornamental plants that is continually introducing new varieties to the gardening world. Ball grows, distributes or brokers almost 80 million seeds, seedling plugs and rooted cuttings through its three core companies (privately held corporations): Ball Seed Co., Ball FloraPlant and Pan American Seed Co. These seeds, plugs and cuttings are not sold directly to consumers, but go to 8,000 wholesale greenhouse growers in the country, who then sell the finished plants to independent garden centers and mass merchandisers. Some of the award-winning annual and perennial varieties Ball has developed include Wave® spreading petunias, Dragon Wing™ begonias, Fiesta™ double impatiens, Super Elfin™ impatiens, Kong™ coleus, AngelMist® angelonia, as well as the Simply Beautiful™ line.
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| Overview of the new Gardens at Ball. |
The parent company, located in West Chicago, celebrated its centennial in 2005 by renovating their original test grdens into a fabulous display garden featuring a vast array of annual and perennial plants arranged in traditional and avant-garde styles. Designed by landscape architect Douglas Hoerr (credited with much of the recent beautification of Chicago's Michigan Avenue as part of the city's civic greening), the garden replaces a disjointed trial garden around the corporate headquarters, itself enlarged and upgraded recently. A 15 foot hill was constructed on the once-flat site to offer views of the entire garden. The new garden was designed for the primary function of displaying Ball’s annual products for retailers, landscapers and growers to view and compare, but in an innovative way, so that the garden remains exciting throughout the rest of the year and can be considered a world-class destination garden. The annuals are integrated into the permanent plantings to create an overall garden rather than just beds of flowers – something gardeners in cold climates can emulate to avoid having lots of vacant spots in the winter. The permanent structural skeleton remains year-round and designs in the fixed beds will be altered from year to year. The Gardens also incorporates many contemporary garden design elements, such as heavy patterning, container garden ideas, hanging plants and vertical gardens to provide opportunities to demonstrate designs for just about every planting condition imaginable.
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| Overview of the new Gardens at Ball. |
The new Gardens at Ball is 3 acres larger than the previous version and contains over 70,000 individual plants representing nearly 2,000 varieties. There are 240 trees and 28,000 herbaceous perennials, many of which are from the original garden – they were dug up and placed in a temporary nursery, then moved to their permanent locations after construction was complete. Also in the gardens is one of Illinois’ two trial grounds for All-American Selections (AAS).
Thousands of annual and perennial varieties are showcased across 7.5 acres in display beds, an elevated viewing garden, a dramatic avenue of hanging baskets, a water garden, an area where container-grown annuals are arranged in attractive combinations, and many other areas. Paths take the visitor through areas shaped to show off plants individually and in combinations, in new and innovative settings designed to inspire visitors and offer ideas for the home garden and commercial settings.
The following descriptions of the various areas follow in a general counterclockwise direction from the entrance to end up back at the starting point.
The Garden Gateway. The main entrance to The Gardens at Ball displays some of their newest introductions. I was particularly intrigued with the 'Little Prince' bananas that were in the central planting in 2006, along with 'Fuzzy Wuzzy' Stachys (lamb's ear) and Zesty™ Lemon zinnias, among other plants.
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| L-R: The entrance to the Gardens at Ball; the crowd waiting to enter on the 2006 open day; highlighted introductions earlier in the year. |
The Cottage Garden. This quaint area, planted with interesting annuals and perennials, is meant to resemble a home garden landscape. On the other side of the cute stone house is a shady area that is often used for staging advertising shoots or product demonstrations.
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| L-R: Heading into the Cottage Garden; early summer perennials in bloom in the flower border; the quiet, shady "backyard." |
In this area, one of their new Fusion™ series exotic impatiens was on display (others were in the woodland area). This is an example of the results of Ball’s efforts to create new varieties unobtainable through traditional hybridizing techniques. By studying genetic pigmentation, scientists in the biotech company BallHelix found a species that might yield a yellow impatiens. Once crossed with the common impatiens species, they produced a whole line of uniquely colored impatiens obtained only through laboratory techniques. This product is just now reaching the market.
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| L-R: A large planting of Fusion™ Glow exotic impatiens; close-up of flowers of Fusion™ Glow; Fusion™ Sunset impatiens in the woodland area. |
The Patio Garden. This area contains more than 600 containers for shade. Most are 14" single variety pots, but there are a number of mixed containers and some hanging baskets. There is a special display near one edge of all the new products that will be on the market the following year, and a grouping of "Feel the Heat" plants – those that can stand heat and humidity and still look great. In addition to lots of impatiens and begonias, there were quite a few exotic tropicals – numerous species of elephant ears (Alocasia, Colocasia, and Xanthosoma), papyrus, and the interesting 'Maracas' Brazilian Fireworks (Porphyrocoma pohliana) grown for its variegated foliage and unique bicolor pink and purple flowers, among many others.
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| L-R: The Patio Garden; 'King Tut' papyrus (Cyperus); display of "Feel the Heat" plants; 'Maracas' Brazilian Fireworks. |
The Comparison Garden. This area retains the feel of the original test gardens, dating back to 1933, with all the row trials – an evaluation and testing ground for new varieties. Small numbers of plants are put in on the same spacing (and all on drip irrigation) so they can be compared for disease resistance, habit, flower color, etc. The area includes both new products and various standards.
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| L-R: The Comparison Garden in late June 2006; 'Blue Horizon' Ageratum; 'Magellan Pink' Zinnia. |
Because this is a real testing area, some individual plants or entire sections fail, but these are not removed or replanted, since they provide valuable information on the true performance of those varieties. While walking through in late July there were many dead or dying Rudbeckia plants and a few showing symptoms of aster yellows, which was just as useful to know as how pretty the flowers could be. But overall there were very few missing plants and the vast majority of the area looked spectacular.
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| L-R: The Comparison Garden in late July 2006; side-by side plantings of 'Golden Globe' (L) and "Million Gold" (R) Melampodium for comparison. |
The Hillside Garden. An innovative focal point featuring 38 huge concrete planters – which are actually construction culverts turned sideways! Each one can accommodate 40 to 60 individual plants. In 2006 the color scheme was yellow and pinks on the ends and purple and blues in the middle planters. This area is divided from the Comparison Garden by large swaths of perennial grasses.
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| The Hillside Garden and the large concrete planters filled with blooming plants. |
The Windings. Switchback pathways lead to the gardens' highest point, a 15 ft high overlook that gives a good view of other areas of the Gardens. Along the way, the newest perennials, such as Caryopteris, Campanula and Gaillardia are displayed in among a mixture of annuals, perennials and woody ornamentals. Most of these are installed in large drifts that really look impressive later in the season when the plants have filled out.
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| The Windings leads from the Hillside Garden up the hill through mixed plantings to the top of the 15 foot hill. |
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| At the top of the hill there is a wide view of other areas of the Garden, looking back toward the entrance. |
The Skyframe Garden. On the backside of the central hill, this meandering path beneath 17 overhead wooden arbors offers a unique way to display hanging plants, particularly the Wave® and Easy Wave® petunias. For 2006 there were three designs incorporating sweet potato vine and yellow Thunbergia; highlighting Purple Wave® petunias; and mixtures of Misty Lilac Wave® petunias and other plants.
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| Different views of the Skyframe Garden, filled with various plant combinations in late June and late July 2006. |
Way in the back beyond the hanging gardens is an area devoted to geraniums, the AAS trial garden and the Creative Corner.
Geranium Circle has over 100 varieties of vegetatively-propagated geraniums displayed in containers to demonstrate the wide variety of flower color, leaf pattern and plant form that are available.
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| Geranium Circle in late June 2006. |
The Creative Corner Garden is the sunny counterpart of the Patio Garden, with numerous sun-loving plants in 14" containers. Most are single varieties, but there are some mixed plantings.
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| L-R: The Creative Corner Gardens in late June 2006; a month later the plants have really grown and filled the containers; the area in late July. |
One section of the Creative Corner Garden has beautiful huge pots filled with interesting combinations of both foliage and flowering plants, while wooden garden chairs invited visitors to linger under the nearby trees to appreciate the interesting container plantings and beautiful plants.
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| Various container combinations in the Creative Corner Gardens in 2006. |
The Woodland Area displays in-ground plantings of shade-loving annuals and perennials along the flagstone paths meandering under the large trees.
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| The Woodland Garden is filled with shade-loving plants - annuals, perennials and woody ornamentals. |
Central Park. This meadow-like mix of annuals and perennials along the gentle slope up the hill incorporates many prairie plants and grasses in an informal setting. This area has become a favored habitat for wildlife, particularly birds.
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| Central Park includes more naturalistic plantings than other areas of The Gardens. |
Carl & Vivian's Garden. The largest single garden in The Gardens at Ball is dedicated to current chief executive officer Anna Ball's parents. The landscaped areas and planting beds feature many products also displayed elsewhere in the garden. There are also many Simply Beautiful™ potted products in this area.
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| L-R: The marker for Carl & Vivian's Garden amid a sea of petunias; landscaped areas feature large containers amid the in-ground plantings; purple Ajuga and other low-growing perennials soften the flagstone of a rustic seating area. |
Carl & Vivian's Garden also includes dramatic reflecting pools featuring aquatic plants and gorgeous large container plantings under the contemporary-design pavilion (which is used for corporate gatherings).
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| The reflecting pools with water plants and interesting large container plantings under the pavilion. |
Unfortunately the Gardens at Ball are not officially open to the public. They do participate in the Garden Conservancy's Open Days program, so anyone can easily visit on one day in late July each year for a nominal fee. Otherwise, they are usually reserved for events with wholesale customers or group tours. The best time for pre-scheduled visits is in August, when the gardens are at their peak. In 2006 the Gardens were open on July 30. Despite the hot and steamy weather we spent several hours there – much longer than the recommended two hours – until thunderstorms chased us away.
In addition to the Gardens at Ball, the company has also been working on an ecological restoration project. This area was originally mostly prairie with a few acres of wetland. In 2003, they began to restore 28 acres at the southwest corner of the property to as close to its native state as possible. This will involve establishment of a variety of plants and animals that were eliminated by development.
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| CEO Anna Ball
discusses gardening trends and
industry response to these trends with MG Coordinators on a group tour in late June 2006. |
Although the company's main concern is, of course, to develop innovative new plant varieties, they are also trying to improve the sustainability of the horticultural industry through the use of biodegradable containers (although this has proved to be a difficult issue, not yet solved), reducing the use of pesticides and utilizing organic practices, and developing programs to increase customer and public awareness. Some areas they are beginning to emphasize include ornamental edibles, mixed gardening, and functionality rather than just beautification.
On a previous pre-scheduled group tour, we were given a peek into the operations of Ball Seed Co. The facility in West Chicago processes about 2 million packages of seed each year, with about half packaged by machine and the other half by hand! They have 12,000 products (some the same plant, but different quantities) and keep a 90 day supply of most on the shelves of their room-temperature stock room. Only a few species are kept under special conditions at 41˚F and 25-30%RH. The seeds are in moisture-proof foil packages or vials (for coated/pelleted seeds), all barcoded to include the batch number, lot number, etc. so there is total tracking of every package. They bring in about 30,000 lots of seed annually from 60 different suppliers, with half of that coming from Pan American Seed and 80% from 12 major suppliers. All of this is sold only to wholesalers, so you can't buy your garden seeds directly from Ball. But you can be sure that with a $20 million inventory of seed, it is likely that many of the plants you purchase from local nurseries originated here!
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| Seed storage areas and packaging operations at Ball Seed Co. |
– Susan Mahr, University of Wisconsin - Madison
