10/05/2026
2026 Annuals Report Card is here!
I plant a lot of annuals every year, and by the time October rolls around, I KNOW which ones earned their spot for next year and which ones I might reconsider. So here are my grades after a full Central Illinois summer!
Supertunia Vista Jazzberry + Vista Bubblegum: A+
I mean…look at those Downtown Effingham baskets! This combo handled everything we threw at it this summer. Heat, wind, storms, tons of rain, no rain. They grew HUGE and were covered in blooms when we took them down.
Supertunia Vista Cool Jazz: A+
Brand new this year and it lived up to every Vista qualification and MORE. The vigor, the amount of blooms, the size…all of it. But the combination of Cool Jazz with Vista Jazzberry and Violet Ice Superbena may have been one of my favorite combinations of the entire summer. Impeccable!
Supertunia Pink Tiara: A+
Where do I even begin with my love for this one?! Its vigor, its color and its ability to pair with just about anything makes this an A+ for me every single year. I use it A LOT and somehow I’m never tired of it.
Pegasus Begonia: A+
SUCH a huge shade performer and one of the easiest, lowest maintenance options I planted this year. The size one plant can reach is crazy! I paired this one with Catalina Pink Torenia in one of my combinations in the Proven Winners Gardener’s Idea Book this year, so go take a look at that one because the combination was incredible.
Macho Fern: A+
There’s a reason you see me use these year after year in container combos and stand alone. BIG impact, incredible growth and they can completely fill a large container. Give one enough room and by the end of summer it’s hard to believe what you started with in spring. An easy A+ for me.
Catalina Pink Torenia: A
This one was SO close to an A+. Incredible, easy color for shade and I love that it works as both a filler AND a spiller. My only reason for knocking it down a little is that sometimes it all flushes into bloom at once, then you have to wait a bit for the next round. But when it’s blooming…SO GOOD.
Superbena Peachy Keen: B
Nothing wildly disappointing here because the color and vigor are superb. My biggest issue was that t
