July 25--If you're going to visit the Gardens at Ball, on the grounds of Ball Horticultural Co. in West Chicago, you can assume there will be some eye-openers.
This is where, after all, the 110-year-old company researches, tests, markets and displays its products, where retailers and landscapers come to learn about new plants and get ideas. So if you get the opportunity to tour the gardens, expect surprises.
Like the Whopper begonia.
"They'll get to be 2 1/2 feet tall by the end of summer," says Susan Schmitz, Ball's trials and education manager, as she walks along a path, nodding toward a bed of the huge plants that were lurching skyward. "They'll be covered with flowers. And you don't have to do a thing with them."
Although there are a few days a year when the public can see the Gardens at Ball, it's first and foremost corporate real estate. The idea is to bring out their professional customers -- growers, landscapers, retailers -- and show them what plants they can grow over the winter and have available the next year. But Aug. 2, home gardeners will have their day when the gardens are part of the Garden Conservancy's Open Days program. Guests can soak up the beauty of Ball's 10 acres, talk to master gardeners and staff, take notes and start planning for 2016.
The property may not be a formal garden, where every blade of grass is in place. That doesn't make it any less beautiful.
"Because we're not a public garden, we don't do a lot of maintenance, like the Chicago Botanic Garden would do," Schmitz says. "We don't do a lot of dead-heading, we don't use pesticides, we do just minimal weeding, by hand. We want (people) to see how the plants do on their own."
And they do quite well.
There are displays and beds everywhere that will stop visitors in their tracks (allow a good two hours to see everything).
Visitors will see more than 3,000 varieties of plants on the property, hundreds of them tagged as "new," which should intrigue home gardeners. These are plants not yet on the market. They will be ready for 2016 if wholesalers and other Ball clients find them to their liking.
"A lot of the varieties take seven to 15 years to produce, from breeding to trialing to production," says Ball spokeswoman Katie Rotella. "It doesn't happen overnight. A lot of our breeders know what's coming out in 2020. So people (on the walk) can get a taste in our gardens."
Here are a few of the highlights:
--Large beds of echinaceas, highlighted by the brilliantly colored Cheyenne Spirit, a 2013 All-America Selections (AAS) award winner, as well as the PowWow and Sombrero varieties.
Spotted around the property are groupings of Jolt dianthus, in cherry and pink, the latter a 2015 AAS winner.
Vertical walls provide color-combination ideas for landscapers as well as home gardeners. One of the most impressive, though mostly in shades of green, is a huge living wall of shade-loving plants in a pavilion near the entrance.
Another captivating new flower is the Night Sky petunia, a dark blue/purple flower with tiny white, starlike speckles. Ball has it displayed in hanging baskets. It could be coming to a garden center near you in a year or two.
Ball's Wave tunnel features three colors of cascading petunias that surround a person with beauty.
A winding path takes visitors to the top of a small hill, added 10 years ago as part of Ball's 100th anniversary celebration. There are 38 containers built into the hill, each emphasizing a different color. Once you reach the top of the hill, soak up a beautiful overview of the grounds.
The Skyframe Garden consists of 17 overhead arbors along a path, each with four containers of colorful flowers.
For those who want to get out of the sun, the largest garden on the property is the Woodlands, with impatiens, coleus and other shade lovers among the trees.
Gardeners skittish about impatiens because of the downy mildew epidemic will be pleased to see large beds of resistant and brilliant New Guinea impatiens, including many experimental varieties.
There are three large container gardens where plants are grouped by characteristics: pollinator-friendly, durability, color, ability to tolerate neglect and so on.
Tips from the pros
Keep it fun: "Do one thing for fun every year," says Schmitz. "It could be a funny pot, or plant something in old boots, (get) some type of (fun) plant."
Can't-miss annual: The Tidal Wave Red Velour petunia. An All-America Selections winner in 2015, it features deep color and vigorous growth, with a few plants filling a lot of space. "There's nothing quite like it," Schmitz says.
Overlooked beauty: The Serenita Sky Blue angelonia is "the best plant you've never heard of," says Rotella. "It's perfect for the beginner gardener." It grows in poor soils, isn't demanding about regular watering, likes hot weather, comes in a variety of colors and looks delicate, "but it's really very tough."
Baby steps: "Don't overreach," Rotella advises new gardeners. "Don't go crazy with 17 types of tomatoes. Go for small successes, then explore novelties. And understanding sun and shade is important. People love the look of a begonia. But don't put it in full sun. Understand your landscape."
Garden walk details
The Gardens at Ball will be part of this year's Garden Conservancy's Open Days program. It will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 2 at Ball Horticultural Co., 622 Town Road, West Chicago. Admission is a $7 tax-deductible donation that goes to the Garden Conservancy. Tickets are available on-site or in advance; visit the website, www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days, for details on this and other participating gardens in the Chicago area.
In addition, the DuPage Friends of Extension will host its annual fundraiser, "Brunch at Ball Gardens," from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 18; tickets are $45; $40 if purchased by July 16. Visit its website for more details.
bhageman@tribpub.com
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