Emily Moore, Director of Horticulture; Ella VanKempen, Horticulture Researcher II; Brett Barbeln, Horticulture Intern
Research on annual flowers at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC), Morris, takes place over four acres in an impressive public display garden. Plant breeding companies from around the world send their annual flower seeds, unrooted cuttings, and rooted plugs to the WCROC to be part of our prestigious annual flower trial. Seeds begin to arrive in January, while unrooted cuttings and rooted plugs arrive in March and April. All plants are grown in our on site greenhouses with the goal of having healthy transplants by the end of May in time for Minnesota’s growing season.
Annuals are grown in hanging baskets, containers, or planted into landscaped beds within the Horticulture Display Garden. All annual flowers are on display for public viewing from early June into September or October, depending on weather conditions. Visitors can take note of their favorite cultivars and see how plants respond to regional weather conditions. We are seeing a growing trend in the number of annual flowers that are bred for containers, which is likely due to the rise in consumer demand for container annuals and planting for smaller spaces. Companies are expanding into curated combination planters to showcase annuals that perform well together due to a designated theme or color scheme. We also have noticed a surge of plants with unique characteristics, whether that be a fun new flower color or unique shape/pattern of leaf. See some fun examples below!
The 2025 growing season for west central Minnesota was much wetter and cloudier than usual, which created a stressful season for annual bedding plants. The average temperatures were normal to slightly lower than normal compared to our historical average. Rainfall in June, July, and August were up to several inches above our "normal" for Morris, MN. Due to the abnormal rainfall, plants exhibited stress through slower growth rates, reduced flowering, and a reduction of some of the more unique traits that are visible in a more mature plant. Despite weather challenges, the top performing annuals showed their worth with outstanding performance. Historical weather information can be found on the WCROC Historical Records page.
As part of the annual flower trialing process, plants are evaluated several times during the growing season to assess each cultivar's performance. We use a 1 to 5 scale for providing a horticultural rating (1=poor, 2=below average, 3=average, 4=above average, 5=excellent). Plants are rated on performance, color, vigor, uniformity of habit and flowering, flowering numbers relative to others, insect and disease resistance, and uniqueness. The data is taken by the same individual every time to reduce variability in scoring. Only the highest rating cultivars earn the distinction as a Top Ten Performing Annual.
Plant breeding companies rely on the valuable feedback from our annual flower trial to market and improve their cultivars. Evaluations from the WCROC annual flower trial are shared with participating plant breeding companies; they may in turn make plant improvements to their cultivars and enter the flower back into trial for another season. Our annual flower report is also made available to commercial nursery producers, floriculture professionals, grower associations, U of MN Extension, and U of MN Master Gardeners to provide cultivar recommendations for Minnesota.
2025 Top Performing Annuals
The Top Ten annuals are listed in alphabetical order by plant genus, there is no ranking within the Top Ten.
Begonia iCandy™ Inferno
Eye candy indeed! iCandy Inferno stood out this season showcasing excellent vigor and visual impact. This cultivar maintained excellent health throughout the entire growing season, with no signs of decline even under full shade conditions. Large, fully double blooms in a striking, fiery red created an eye-catching contrast against the plant’s deep chocolate-brown foliage. Its compact mounding habit remained well-shaped without the need for pinching or deadheading. It was floriferous, continuously producing blooms. This top 10 performer demonstrated resistance to excess moisture, making it a strong cultivar for regions with inconsistent summer rainfall.
- Height: 10 - 14 inches
- Spread: 12 - 16 inches
- Exposure: Partial sun
Begonia Surefire® Rose
Begonia Surefire® Rose proved to be an adaptable performer in this season’s trials. Over the course of the season, this cultivar exhibited increasing vigor and resilience under the region’s variable summer conditions. Planted in a full-shade bed, it still produced an impressive number of blooms, maintaining consistent color and fullness. True to the Surefire series, this selection displayed a strong upright growth habit coupled with season-long flowering and low maintenance that makes it a great choice for both landscape and container use.
- Height: 12 - 24 inches
- Spread: 18 - 24 inches
- Exposure: Partial sun
Bidens Campfire® Marshmallow
Bidens Campfire® Marshmallow earned its place as a garden favorite thanks to its impressive "flower power" and consistent health from greenhouse transplant to full garden performance. This cultivar displayed excellent uniformity and maintained a clean, vigorous appearance due to its self-cleaning blooms and heat tolerance. Covered in bright white daisy-like blooms, this cultivar drew attention all season, with pollinator activity notably increasing later in the summer.
- Height: 8 - 14 inches
- Spread: 16 - 20 inches
- Exposure: Full sun
Cleome Señorita Rosalita®
Señorita Rosalita® continues to prove itself as a garden workhorse, earning its spot on this year's top 10 annuals list. This cleome cultivar displayed vigorous growth, season-long flowering, and excellent uniformity, making it a standout performer in our garden landscape. Señorita Rosalita is an improvement on traditional cleomes, offering thornless stems, and self-cleaning flowers—traits that eliminate the maintenance headaches often associated with older cultivars. Its upright form is covered in lavender-pink blooms from late spring through fall, with no need for deadheading.
- Height: 2 - 4 ft
- Spread: 1.5 – 2.5 ft
- Exposure: Full sun
Coleus ColorBlaze® El Brighto
ColorBlaze® El Brighto earned high marks for its color and consistency. The bright mix of lime green, magenta, and burgundy foliage added instant color and interest, and the plants held that vibrant color all season long. Even in lower light, El Brighto stayed full, uniform, and vigorous without getting leggy. This coleus impressed with its consistent performance and clean, well-shaped habit. It looked just as good in mass plantings as it did in containers. With strong growth and bold color, it's an easy recommendation for our region.
- Height: 2 – 3.5 ft
- Spread: 1.5 - 3 ft
- Exposure: Sun or shade
Helianthus Suncredible® Yellow
This multi-branching sunflower put out a constant display of bright yellow blooms that held up from early summer through fall. The mounded habit made it especially useful in landscape plantings where season-long structure is key. Every plant showed uniform growth, exceptional vigor, strong flowering, and great color. It handled heat well and didn’t need deadheading to keep blooming, which makes it a solid low-maintenance choice for both professional and home landscapes. It’s not a towering sunflower—more of a compact, bushy type— which makes it ideal for borders, mass plantings, or even large containers.
- Height: 2 – 3 ft
- Spread: 2 – 3 ft
- Exposure: Full sun
Ipomoea Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Medusa™ Black
This ornamental sweet potato vine earned its place on the top 10 list with its excellent uniformity, dark foliage color, and above-average vigor. Sweetheart Medusa™ Black brings striking, dark purple-black leaves with a heart-shaped form that adds texture and depth to mixed plantings. It performed consistently across all trial beds, staying well-shaped and balanced without overgrowing its neighbors— something not always guaranteed with vigorous ipomoeas. The dark foliage provided bold contrast in landscape beds, pairing especially well with bright, flowering annuals.
- Height: 6 – 12 inches
- Spread: 2 – 3 ft
- Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Petunia Supertunia Vista® Jazzberry®
We are no strangers to the power of Supertunias! Supertunia Vista® Jazzberry® made the list this year thanks to its vibrant flower color and strong all-season performance. The bold magenta-purple blooms were eye-catching from a distance and didn’t fade in the summer heat or excessive rainfall, making it one of the most striking displays in the trial beds. Like other Vista series petunias, Jazzberry® brought vigorous growth and a full, spreading habit that quickly filled space in our landscape plantings. With its bright coloring, reliable coverage, and ease of care, Supertunia Vista® Jazzberry® is a great option for gardeners looking to add long-lasting impact to sunny beds and containers.
- Height: 12 - 24 inches
- Spread: 24 – 36 inches
- Exposure: Full sun
Portulaca Mega Pazzaz® Papaya Twist
Visitors couldn’t stop commenting on Mega Pazzaz® Papaya Twist! Once the pin-striped blooms opened up in the morning sun, the display was hard to miss. The almost glowing flower color, combined with sheer flower power and clean uniform growth, made it one of the most asked-about cultivars in the trial beds. Papaya Twist showed strong vigor, healthy foliage, and vibrant blooms throughout the season. Even under hot and dry conditions, the plants held their shape and continued blooming without fading. This cultivar is a top pick for hot, sunny locations where low maintenance and high impact are a must. Its compact, spreading habit makes it ideal for containers and mass plantings.
- Height: 6 – 9 inches
- Spread: 12 - 16 inches
- Exposure: Full sun
Vinca Cora® XDR Red Glow
Vinca Cora® XDR Red Glow brought neon-bright color and consistent flowering to the trial beds this season. Its glowing red blooms were hard to miss, especially when paired with its clean, glossy green foliage. This variety was the most floriferous vinca in the trial, putting out blooms steadily from early summer through the end of the season. One of the most impressive traits was its uniformity—every plant looked nearly identical in size, shape, and bloom coverage. It maintained a tidy, upright habit without stretching or lodging, even in hot, humid conditions.
- Height: 14 – 16 inches
- Spread: 18 – 20 inches
- Exposure: Full sun
Honorable Mentions
With over 100 annuals on trial, there are always some that are favorites without quite making it to the Top Ten list. This year's honorable mention goes to Nicotiana Whisper™ Deep Pink and Nicotiana Whisper™ Appleblossom. These two ornamental tobacco annual cultivars were magnets for hummingbirds and butterflies. Their large size wowed us as they filled a lot of space quickly, and the flowers were presented in a cloud-like haze above the leaves. Unfortunately, the flowers lodged (tipped) in our flash flood event just before our early July evaluation, resulting in them not quite making the cut to our Top Ten.
More Information on the WCROC Horticulture Display Garden
Even though the annual flowers are under evaluation, the plants are placed into an aesthetically pleasing design, allowing visitors to enjoy the beauty of the Garden. The Horticulture Display Garden has been an All-America Selections (AAS) Display Garden since 1990. The AAS award recognizes a flower or vegetable variety proven to have superior performance throughout the North American continent. An AAS Display Garden provides the public an opportunity to view the new AAS winners in an attractive well-maintained setting. Additionally, the Horticulture Display Garden is one of a limited number of AAS Trial Ground sites in Minnesota, where AAS entries are planted next to comparisons and evaluated by an AAS Trial Judge.
The Horticulture Display Garden is open daily from dawn until dusk; admission is free. Voted as the “Best Public Display Garden in Minnesota” by WCCO, the Horticulture Display Garden is truly a gem in the Upper Midwest.
All flowers in the Horticulture Display Garden are labeled, allowing visitors to take note of top performing cultivars under regional conditions. The Horticulture Display Garden is open daily from dawn until dusk; admission is free. The Garden is located at 46352 State Hwy 329, Morris, MN. Donations are appreciated to keep the Garden beautiful and to make reports like these free to the public.