Landscape Ontario Trial Gardens - 2026 Edition!

Every year, I venture to the Landscape Ontario (LO) Industry Open House, an event where members gather to hear from local experts on various topics and, of course, tour their amazing trial gardens.  One aspect of the gardens that I truly appreciate is the fact that you can see how plants will do in local conditions.  This is particularly interesting when it comes to the perennials as they keep them for several years so you can envision how they will look 1, 2 or 3 years after adding them to your own garden.

Container Trials

Currently, the LO headquarters is undergoing some huge changes – in addition to the construction of a brand new training and education facility, the large front garden area is being transformed into a stormwater retention pond.  Once completed, the pond will serve to not only divert runoff, but also create a unique planting opportunity.  The one downside was that the pond had to be installed in the area that was occupied by the trial gardens which were, in turn, relocated.

The head of the trial program, Rodger Tschanz from the University of Guelph,
showing us a new biodegradable pot with zero petro chemicals that will
break down in a single season in a home compost pile.

The container trials were moved to a completely different area adjacent to the warehouse which ended up being far better suited to them as the building provides protection from westerly winds.  The annual and perennial beds were moved to a strip of land between the pond and the highway.  From my recollection, this area had previously been a stone screening path used by both people and vehicles - underneath was compacted subsoil with very few nutrients.  The plants that were moved to this area had a tough go of it at the start, but there has been a noticeable improvement in the past couple of months as soil amendments that were added begin to have an impact.

So that’s a bit of background on the LO site, but now for the exciting part – the plants!  There are literally hundreds of trial plants in the gardens so what I’ll be doing today is showcasing those that really caught my eye.  As a side note, you’ll notice coloured flags in some of the pictures.  Visitors are encouraged to grab a few flags and place one next to their favourite container plant, annual and perennial.  To find out where I put my flags, keep reading 😃

First up are the container trials, but before we get to those, I wanted to mention a perennial that caught my eye just outside of the container trial area.  It's a Gaura, which is one of my favourite perennials (yes, I have a lot of 'favourites').  This one had such a vibrant colour and it was quite compact and lush, so I had to include it on my list:

Gaura 'Steffi™ Dark Rose Improved'

Steffi™ Dark Rose Improved close-up

Now let's head to the container trials.  All of the plants are in 12” pots and they are set up on a drip watering system.

I loved this Calibrachoa with it's mix of purple and pink double blooms:

Calibrachoa ‘Trixi® FunTopia Utopia’

Trixi® FunTopia Utopia close-up

The tightly packed 'bristles' on the deep fuchsia spikes of this Celosia really stood out:

Celosia ‘Intenz Dark Purple’

This Scaevola created a pink waterfall of fan-shaped blooms:

Scaevola ‘Whirlwind Pink’

Whirlwind Pink close-up

Heliotrope is one of my favourite annuals, not only for the gorgeous deep purple blooms, but also for the foliage which is beautifully textured:

Heliotrope ‘Aromagic® Magic Purple’

The Rainbow series of Calibrachoa is truly amazing – their blooms actually change colour depending on the temperature during bud set as well as how much sunlight it gets. I was particularly smitten by this pale yellow and pink variety:

Calibrachoa ‘Rainbow Dragonberry’

Rainbow Dragonberry close-up

I think I'm partial to Calibrachoa as I was drawn in by yet another variety - this one was covered with beautiful purple and yellow double blooms.

Calibrachoa 'Superbells® Double Mardi Gras'

Superbells® Double Mardi Gras close-up

Unpopular opinion:  I’m not really a petunia person - somewhat surprising considering my affinity for their diminutive cousin Calibrachoa.  However, I’ve come to appreciate them much more over the past couple of years after I grew a few varieties from seed.  Regardless, it’s still surprising to me that out of all of the container plants on display here – well over 100 of them – it was a petunia that really captured my attention. That intense bright green edge just takes this petunia to a whole new level:

Petunia 'AMAZONAS™ Midnight Finch' 🚩(!!)

AMAZONAS™ Midnight Finch close-up

Now let’s move on to the annual trial garden.

A snippit of the annual trial beds

One of the first groupings that stood out to me was this combination of deep blue salvia and the gorgeous red dahlias - such a striking colour combination:

Salvia ‘Sallyfun™ Blue Lagoon’ and  Dahlia ‘Cherie™ Papaya’

The dalias were so striking with the bright red centre that transitions to pale peachy yellow:

Dahlia ‘Cherie™ Papaya’

If you look closely at the salvia, you’ll also notice that the petals have a pretty splash of white;

Salvia ‘Sallyfun™ Blue Lagoon’

The Scaevola lining this pathway was absolutely gorgeous and so floriferous – the depth of the blue is amazing.

Scaevola ‘Bali™ Blue’🚩

I think I have a thing about petunias with contrasting edges.  Here’s one that has a beautiful, sharply defined creamy edge up against an incredibly deep purple centre - gorgeous!

Petunia ‘Cascadias™ RIMerlot’

Cascadias™ RIMerlot close-up

Nicotiana has been a favourite of mine for many years so I had to take a picture of this grouping from the Whisper series.

Nicotiana – Whisper Mix

Whisper Mix close-up

I first heard of cannas grown from seed, right here at the trial gardens a few years ago when I saw this Ball introduction:

Canna ‘Cannova® Gold Leopard’

They also have another variety on display with an incredibly clear coral colour.  It had quite a few flags around it, an obvious favourite with visitors!

Canna ‘Cannova® Rose’

Even though I don’t have much luck with Verbena bonariensis in my garden (yet!), I absolutely love it and so I keep trying.  This one is an unnamed experimental variety from Benary that is very compact compared to the species, topping out at only about 18” or so.  Its colour is also exceptionally vibrant.

Verbena: Experimental variety from Benary

But it’s not all about the flowers – I loved this little Pennisetum with is gracefully arching leaves and tan plumes.  This one is a perennial in zones 8 or higher but around here, it's an annual.

Pennisetum ‘Fuzzy’

I’m a big Coleus fan and the colouration on this one was phenomenal.  This is a new introduction from Ball and a big bonus with this variety is that it does well in both shade and full sun:

Coleus 'ChargeUp™ Prismatic'

Coleus 'ChargeUp™ Prismatic' close-up

Lastly, let’s move on to the perennial trials.  Normally, these are one of the highlights when I visit – I thoroughly enjoy seeing how plants have matured over a few seasons so I can get an of idea how well (or not!) they will do in my own garden after that 1st year.

This year, many of the plants in the original perennial beds were given away before demolition for the pond began.  The remaining plants were subjected to a bit of trauma as they moved from a well-worked and amended site to a harsher area, where the soil was “like concrete” when the shovels first hit the ground.  Since then, new plants were added (as they are every year), the soil was well amended and, in another year or two, I’m sure this new perennial area will once again be a treasure trove of discovery.

This is not to say that there was nothing to see this year – I still walked away with some inspiration, even in the less-than-ideal conditions.

Firstly, I came across a couple of different Agastache varieties that truly stood out – the stems were simply packed with blooms:

Agastache ‘Zuni’

Agastache ‘Pink Pearl’🚩

I’m a sucker for hydrangeas and for several years now, breeders have been coming out with varieties that will fit into even the smallest garden space, like Dragon Baby which reaches only 2-3’ tall and wide.  I loved the colour variation on this one with truly clear chartreusy white blooms alongside those that have aged to pink:

Hydrangea ‘Dragon Baby’

Dragon Baby close-up

This aster is not yet in bloom, but what truly impressed me about this variety was the form - it's almost shrub like with it's incredibly compact and dense foliage.  I can just imagine how beautiful it will be once it bursts into bloom:

Aster ‘Aurora White’

Sedum ‘Spectacular’ is a 2026 All America Selections winner and I actually have this one in my own garden.  And surprise...it’s grown from seed!  I have to say, however, that theirs looks a mite better than mine.  Sedums don’t appreciate soil that is overly fertile & it's obviously enjoying this spot, especially in the baking sun:

Sedum ‘Spectacular’

One of the great things about these trials is that you can see, IRL, side-by-side comparisons of different varieties, and this grouping of 3 varieties of switchgrass is a perfect example.  I’m particularly loving the upright form of ‘Lightening Bolt’.

From Left to right:  Panicum ‘Tumble Weed®’, ‘Lightening Bolt®’,
‘Smoky Rose®’, all from the Dream Catcher® series.

So that’s my roundup of favourites at this year’s trials at Landscape Ontario.  I hope you enjoyed this virtual tour!

Happy Gardening 😊