Ball Horticultural Company, Chicago, recently partnered with Calloway’s Nursery, Inc., Fort Worth, TX, to host a Simply Beautiful Container Contest to benefit the Lena Pope Home, a local Fort Worth charity. This is the third Simply Beautiful contest that’s benefited local charities in 2009. The contest not only provided a donation to the Lena Pope Home, but also helped build momentum and demand.

"Calloway's strives to engage with Texas gardeners to make gardening fun and easy," said Kimberly Bird, vice president of Retail Marketing. "The Simply Beautiful Container Garden contest that we hosted was well received by customers and helped raise funds for a very worthy cause."

The event attracted gardeners of all skill levels who had fun creating mixed containers. Each contestant was given 45 minutes to plant a 14-in. container, which was then judged on style, color, and creativity. With more than 15 different Simply Beautiful varieties to choose from, the contestants combined colors and textures, as well as some decorative elements like gourds and mini pumpkins.

“This contest certainly demonstrated that there’s plenty of exciting plants available in early Fall to refresh and replant containers that have fizzled out over the summer,” said Bill Calkins, Simply Beautiful Brand Manager.

Earlier this year, Ball partnered with Tagawa Gardens, Centennial, CO, and Dickman Farms Garden Center, Auburn, NY to host Simply Beautiful Container Contests. The contests drew more than 4,000 people to Tagawa Gardens and thousands more to Dickman Farms Garden Center the last week in May. Efforts in Colorado supported the Ronald McDonald Houses and in New York, a Cerebral Palsy Foundation.