The Idea Garden annually receives donations of trial plants from seed and horticulture companies for evaluation during the growing season.
The Trial Garden is a test site for Proven Winners—providing visitors with a glimpse of new or improved cultivars for our area. Half of the plants we receive are plants that are not available for purchase yet, the other half are used for comparison. The trials help the company decide whether to market the plants, based on their performance in various areas of the country. We have partnered with various plant companies as a trial site since 2001.
We receive small plants called “plugs” in March and care for them in a greenhouse. Then Master Gardener volunteers plant them and take detailed notes over a 4-month growing period. The research includes bloom coverage, disease and insect percentages, comments, and an overall rating (a “5” means - “Oh, my gosh, this is a SPECTACULAR plant”, a “1” means - “This looks miserable.”). The overall ratings include: uniformity, foliage, “bloom power”, vigor, and “Wow factor” as perceived by the evaluators. The ratings judge how well these new varieties do in our area. Detailed notes and photos are then sent to Proven Winners at the end of the growing season. In 2022, we obtained new large self-watering containers for better evaluation of plants bred for containers.
Champaign County Master Gardeners are the only volunteer program and only Master Gardener program in North America that participates in Proven Winners' 25 trial sites across the US and Canada. We trial plants right along with other well-known sites across the country, including Penn State University, University of Georgia, The Biltmore Estate, and Raker Garden Trials in Litchfield, MI to name a few.
Trialing plants that are not out yet is helpful for the visiting public, horticultural students and professors, Master Gardeners, and anyone interested in gardening. Please visit this section of the Idea Garden to see our wonderful arrangement of labeled plant varieties each year. The most recent evaluation results from our Trial Garden may be viewed below.