Why Proven Winners Direct™: Awards and Trials Explained!
Everyone knows that I love Proven Winners® plants because they're the prettiest dang plants in the land and they perform exceptionally well in my gardens. Did you know that Proven Winners plants have won 10,000+ awards? Have you ever wondered how?
It's all in the journey to becoming a Proven Winner! Proven Winners varieties are carefully bred, trialed, and selected. These three processes usually take a minimum of 6 years and only then can a plant be called a Proven Winner. But we don't stop there! Our existing varieties are regularly re-trialed to explore every possible improvement.
Let's take a deeper look into how plants become Proven Winners– and why I think all of our garden friends should be growing them!
Proven Winners was founded over 30 years ago and holds a deeply rooted commitment to home garden success. From the very beginning, they committed to putting the effort, time, and investment into making sure new plants are not only unique and beautiful but also guaranteed to deliver great garden performance across the United States!
This dedication has made Proven Winners® the #1 plant brand nationwide and the only plant brand in the national market that focuses on our success as home gardeners. They have become the trusted gardening standard in the plant world and they want us to know how serious they are about both the Proven and the Winners part of their name!
It is easy for me to say that Proven Winners is the best, but it's even better to explain why! Proven Winners plants are based on two very important processes that underline the mission: extensive testing and trials. Each plant introduced has a variety of criteria they are evaluated on, including disease resistance, vigor, habit, and color. Because of the rigorous testing, we do not have to worry about garden performance with Proven Winners plants!
Once they have passed the testing in the labs, the plants are shipped to multiple locations across the country– from Florida to New Hampshire, and Michigan to southern California. Proven Winners trials every plant in their nationwide gardens to make sure they produce exactly what we are looking for: plants that look beautiful and perform great in our gardens at home.
Plants must succeed in each of these locations, improve upon a variety of traits, and generally impress the trial professionals. After 2-3 years of trialing, a plant has to place within the top 3% of trial performers to even become a Proven Winner! THE TOP THREE PERCENT, YOU GUYS!
You may have noticed award ribbons appearing in our more recent emails. This is for good reason! Let me explain. Independent trials are done at universities and public gardens to measure performance against other industry-standard varieties. Each organization rates and reviews the performance, coming up with award-winners in categories like “Best of Breed”, “Top Performer”, and “Leader of the Pack”, along with many others.
When we grow these award winners at home, we can trust they will be standouts in our gardens. We know that they've been professionally trialed to withstand the elements across the country and will provide us with great garden performance, that they've been tested and proven to have strong disease resistance, and that they'll continue to push out those glorious blooms and vibrant foliage that we simply cannot live without. And let's face it, garden friends, they're just so dang pretty!
After experiencing various sites in the US– enduring the heat and humidity in Florida, thriving in the ever-changing conditions in New Hampshire and Michigan, and taking on the scorching sun of SoCal, the plants are ready to be released to the market. But it doesn’t stop there, friends. Improved varieties of Proven Winners plants routinely go through the entire process again! This is to provide us with even better performance with the plants we already grow and love.
The solution to a stress-free, gorgeous garden is right at our fingertips, guys! And as the cherry on top of this delicious ice cream sundae you didn't know you needed, the Proven Winners Direct Team and I are here to make sure every Proven Winners experience you have with us is easy, successful, and inspiring.
Happy almost spring, garden friends!