On Gardening: Pebble Beach 2027 recipe of the year

Norman Winter, Tribune News Service on Oct 1, 2026

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The summer plant trials are famous not only for introducing new plants to whip us into a frenzy but also new recipes, mixes or combinations to try not only in the landscape but in hanging baskets and planters too! One such recipe is called Pebble Beach and each selection or variety in the mix is an award winner.

The first variety is Superbena Sparkling Amethyst II verbena. The verbena that many consider a novelty has won 15 awards. These are prestigious awards, like Director’s Select at Penn State and Best of the Breed at North Carolina State University JC Raulston Arboretum. It is an award winner from Ohio State University to my old friend Mississippi State University.

It’s a novelty by virtue of its colors. Proven Winners calls it purple with splashes of lavender and white. By describing it that way you get the idea of a chaos of color, but each flower has a remarkable repetitive pattern or organization.

Superbena Sparkling Amethyst II verbena reaches 12 inches in height with a spread up to 30 inches. It is perennial in zones 8a-11b, though worth every penny if used as an annual. Like all verbenas it will attract pollinators, giving the mix even more interest.

There are two more partners in the Pebble Beach recipe, and both are Supertunia petunias. The first I’ll mention is Supertunia Blue Tiara. This petunia has only been out for a couple of years and has received a lot of love and admiration. It has won awards from Boerner Botanical Garden in Wisconsin to University of Florida. It took home a Perfect Score award at the University of Missouri.

Supertunia Blue Tiara is a vivid violet blue with a white center. It reaches 12 inches tall with a 2-foot spread and is an eye-catcher from the first open bloom.

The third flower in the new Pebble Beach recipe is Supertunia Mini Vista White petunia. It has won awards from Canada to the University of Florida. Awards like Director’s Select at Penn State, Perfect Score at Oklahoma State and dozens of Top Performer trophies mean you can count in this petunia. It too reaches 12 inches in height with a 2-foot spread. The white color, however, performs like a champion of purpose by tying the other two companions together.

It stands to reason: If you make a new recipe using all award winners your mix will be an award winner too. It already is as Pebble Beach has been chosen as the 2027 Proven Winners National Recipe of the Year.

This is a drop-dead gorgeous recipe, but Proven Winners showed a variation that makes the mix even more impressive. They added Angelface White III in the center. This variety is also an award winner, reaching 30 inches tall with an 18-inch spread. The added height can turn your container into a dazzling work of art and of course the large white flower matches the Supertunia Mini Vista White petunia perfectly.

Hopefully by the time you read this the heat in my area of Georgia will have lifted and The Garden Guy will be planting a few Superbells, Supertunias and Superbenas for the fall, winter and spring time seasons. I’ll be sharing these with you so follow me on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.

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(Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.)

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Norman Winter receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.)