The Story of Pack Trials and how they help to bring you better plants for your garden.

Pack Trials are industry wide shows of the very best and newest plants by world's breeders. They take place this year in early April. Geenhouse growers, nurseries, plant brokers all come to view Pack Trials. Theis is where the decisions are made for 2009 purchases. The very plants that you will see in your local garden center. Because these breeding companies concentrate on bringing new and better varieties to your garden they don't sell finished plants to garden centers and nurseries. When pack trials are over they have thousands of perfect plants. From First Class Selecta we buy these perfectly grown plants at very good prices and you get to buy the very best of them.

Pack Trials began in the late 1940's with the Goldsmith plant company in Gilroy, Califonia

It was a true trial of impatiens, geraniums and other bdding and blooming plants that Goldsmiths grew as small liners or sold as seed to other greenhouses.
Goldsmiths grew their varieties and that of other breeders in 6 packs and put rows of all the different breeders plants on greenhouse benches so that the brokers and nurseries like Weidnrs could see what was offered.
They also made big baskets of impatiens and other plants in a display area, served refreshments and generally made it a beautiful show.

Over the years this has grown so that now over 20 breeders and young plant growers put on a yearly show. Sometimes they show off only their varieties and sometimes they actually do trials of all the breeders materials for visitors to compare.

The displays and show have gotten bigger and fancier each year. You benefit because nuseries like Weidners can see and choose the very best and the newest to present to you the following year.