Australian Horticultural Trials Week

Across four amazing days late last year, NGIV and Australia’s top breeders, growers, and allied businesses came together to deliver a truly memorable Trials Week. The week was an opportunity to discover exciting new product lines, visit some of Australia’s finest propagators and growers and to enjoy networking with industry colleagues from all over the country and overseas.

Trials Week 2022 was held from 6–9 December and was proudly brought to you by our presenting partners The Garden Gurus.

As is tradition, Trials Week kicked off with a busy and bustling Trade Day. Being the last Trade Day for the year, attendance was excellent, and all were in joyous spirits in the approach to the holiday season. There was an impressive number of interstate and overseas guests to Trade Day, all of whom were dazzled by the quality and variety of what was on offer, and this truly set the tone for the week. The prevailing sentiment expressed by many exhibitors and visitors was that, after years of lockdowns and travel restrictions, Trials Week was back

The excitement could be felt too at the Trials Week breakfast held at Ball Australia. Offering tours of their site, it was not only a fantastic networking opportunity but also a chance to see some world-class facilities in action.

The Garden Gurus

With our presenting partners The Garden Gurus along for the ride, they were blown away by the overwhelming hospitality and community shown in the Victorian industry. Production Coordinator, Jessica Tilbury, saw Trials Week as, “A beautiful way to open the doors and introduce each other in the gardening industry to their facilities to exemplify what they have been working on. And whether that be in a way to teach and inform, or a way to proudly show the hard work and what it has resulted in. It’s also an exciting opportunity for people who aren’t from the industry to garner a better understanding of how our beloved plants come to be as remarkable as they are.”

She continued, “The sheer volume of stories that can come out of the gardening industry in Victoria is outstanding. By the end of the week my head was spinning with ideas to bring to the Garden Gurus storyboard for 2023. From the years of breeding out of Ball Australia to get impatiens to have a high resistance to Downy Mildew, to the incredible array of colours bursting out of the blooms from JD Propagation, it truly was a sight to see.

The next step is to get the message out there. The Garden Gurus provides the perfect platform to do this. Our much loved and trusted presenters can present and share these stories to a large audience across Australia. I’m looking forward to the future in the gardening and nursery industry, and what 2023 will bring!”

Ball Australia

Over the past two years, Ball Australia have been successful in adapting their Trials Week offering to adhere to travel restrictions, but this Trials Week they welcomed a return to ‘normal’ along with people from across the country and the globe. With such an impressive, growing operation, Ball Australia understands how much people appreciate the opportunity to see their processes in action and used Trials Week to highlight some new facilities at the Skye site, including new greenhouses and stock houses.

Ball Australia’s Managing Director Paul Boland knows what customers want. “Our theme is always about colour,” he said. And as always there was plenty of colour on display for visitors When asked about some of the new products that people have gravitated towards, Paul pointed to some stunning dahlias, before showing off two new colours of Angelonias – fuchsia bicolour and violet bicolour – the vibrant flowers of which are sure to attract customers and pollinators alike. Another “impressive” standout, he said, were the begonias, which were shown in new colours for Trials Week – the Begonia Dragon Wings-White is particularly eye-catching. It grows lush and vigorous with angel-wing leaves and large blooms, creating a dramatically different look and with its “bulletproof” , easy-care nature, customers will enjoy this plant for many years.

Summing up the week, Paul’s highlight was the fact that everyone has been able to come to Ball Australia in person this year. “It certainly has been a successful week considering the last few years that we’ve had with COVID,” he said. “It’s been an opportunity for all our customers to come in and travel. It’s been great. We’ve gone back to the original Trials Week format, which is exciting.”

Haars Nursery

The Haars Nursery team showcased an extensive range of new and innovative plant genetics, which will be introduced to the Australian market during 2023 and 2024. The team have been expanding partnerships internationally, enabling them to promote, market and distribute leading plant genetics, working with breeding partners who continually innovate to provide new and improved plants with a focus on breeding varieties that are heat tolerant, disease resistant and maintain good natural growth habits.

Having been involved in Trials Week for several years now, Kylie Balmain says that Haars always display what they feel are the strongest selections in different colours as well as the best of their new products. She says that the nursery listens to what growers and retailers say and what people gravitate towards. This Trials Week, the bicolour Dahlias were a real standout.

Like so many other exhibitors, the Haars team were thrilled to see people being able to travel more freely once again this Trials Week. Reflecting on what Trials Week means to the industry, Kylie summed up: “It’s such a such a lovely statement from the industry to politicians, educators, journalists, and a reminder to people already in the industry: we’re a force.”

Fleming’s Nurseries

Fleming’s Nurseries were excited to be a part of Trials Week for the first time in 2022. For Fleming’s, a business that has long been committed to trialling the newest and most innovative varieties and has always been proactive in their planning for the future, Trials Week was an opportunity to show visitors show much of what they do well, year in, year out. Research and Innovations Manager, Leanne Gillies, said that while Trials Week was in many ways “business as usual” for Fleming’s, it also represented the first time the nursery has ever showcased all their new varieties in the one place. Their ability to source and cultivate these new varieties is supported by the strong relationships they have nurtured with overseas breeders.

Trials Week also presented the perfect opportunity for Fleming’s to introduce their new evergreen shrub Distylium Originating in China and refined by the nursery’s US breeding partners, Distylium are highly useful and exceptionally versatile; it is tough, hardy and highly adaptable. The ‘Vintage Jade’ variety offers gardeners and landscapers a shrub with glossy, vibrant, evergreen foliage that can cope in almost any situation, while the ‘Cinnamon Girl’ variety features delightful foliage, which emerges with bronze and copper tones before developing to a deep green – it is in their words, “the perfect all-rounder”

JD Propagation

This Trials Week, JD Propagation teamed up with breeders Dummen Orange and Hartwig Bull to create a ‘Kaleidoscope of Colour’. The purpose-built garden was filled with a rich variety of annuals, perennials, and pot plants and included excellent bedding plants, such as Anthurium, Coleus, Calibrachoa, Petunia, Pelargonium, Lavender, Sunbeckia, Streptocarpus and many more.

JD Propagation see Trials Week as the perfect opportunity to showcase their products, both existing and new, but Jen Patience has said, “Best of all it’s a great way to catch up with the wider industry”

Helix Australia’s Adrian Parsons was also onsite to introduce visitors to the new Waxflower ‘Local Hero’. Bred by Kings Park and Botanic Gardens in Perth, ‘Local Hero’ is a stunning compact landscape plant featuring masses of dainty pink blooms in early spring. Helix Australia has commissioned a special Waxflower ‘Local Hero’ label, with a royalty of $1 from each plant sold donated to SAS Resources Fund.

Dummen Orange

It was brilliant to see everyone out and about again during the Australia Horticultural Trials,’ said Matthew Curtis, Dummen Orange’s Business Development Manager for Australia and New Zealand. ‘Our Lavender La Diva series was a huge hit, along with the Argyranthemums, Pelargoniums, Bidens, Osteospermums, Petunias, Coleus, Anthuriums and Calibrachoas. Thank you to all the growers and retailers for visiting and supporting the Dümmen Orange genetics at JD Propagation.’

Greenhills Propagation Nursery/ Touch of Class Plants

Plantfest was back again for 2022. Presented by Greenhills Propagation Nursery and Touch of Class Plants, there was something for every visitor, whether they were growers, retailers, or members of the media.

The team know that nothing quite beats getting up close to see plants in person, so after adapting their offering to the online space last year, Greenhills Propagation Nursery and Touch of Class Plants this year created outdoor pop-up gardens, which featured an array of new and exciting plants. Adding some beautiful, vibrant colour to the gardens, a real standout was the Lazy Daisy osteospermums in three gorgeous new shades: Copper, Apricot and Antique.

“We had a really good response from visitors who attended PlantFest,” said Mark Harrison. “We had a lot of feedback that there was a good range of new varieties and “something for everyone.”

“Nandina Twilight and Heuchera Black Forest Cake were standouts, as well as some the impressive natives we are managing like Grevillea Bloodline and Grevillea Red Robin.

Trials Week gave us the opportunity to showcase the new genetics from breeders we work with. With interstate and international attendances increasing every year it shows how strong the Victorian nursery industry is.”

Allied Exhibitors – Evergreen Connect, ICL, Garden City Plastics, Norwood, Powerplants, Proptec, Super Starters

Trials Week is not only about the plants but is also about the latest innovations and technologies in the horticultural and allied industries. Throughout the week, there were demonstrations and displays from Allied Exhibitors, without whom the week would not be what it is.

Once again, Trials Week demonstrated what is so amazing about the thriving and dynamic horticultural industry. We’re already looking forward to Trials Week 2023.