Wave
Wave is a 30-year consumer horticulture brand owned by Ball Horticultural Company, marketing proprietary spreading petunia and pansy varieties to home gardeners across North America, Australia, and additional global markets through retail garden centers, big box stores, and online seed companies.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1995
- HeadquartersWest Chicago, United States
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Wave does
Wave is a consumer horticulture brand owned and operated by Ball Horticultural Company, a privately held company headquartered in West Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1995 with the debut of Wave Purple Classic petunia, Wave develops and markets proprietary spreading petunia and pansy varieties — including the Original Wave, Tidal Wave, Easy Wave, Shock Wave, and E3 Easy Wave petunia series, and the Cool Wave Pansy line — that are bred for dramatic spreading habit (up to 4 feet), extended bloom time, weather resistance, and minimal maintenance. The underlying technology is conventional plant breeding and hybridization, with foundational genetics originating from an exclusive partnership with a Japanese beer company that discovered a wild vigorous spreading petunia during wine-grape breeding experiments; Ball Horticultural secured these rights after the 1995 All-America Selections award.
Wave operates a hybrid business model. Revenue is generated primarily through B2B seed and plug sales via Ball Horticultural Company's Pan American Seed division to commercial greenhouse growers worldwide, who propagate finished plants for retail sale. Finished Wave plants reach end consumers through independent garden centers, big box retailers (Home Depot, Walmart), and online seed companies (Burpee, Park Seed, Harris Seeds, J.W. Jung, Veseys, Territorial). Wave supplements this core trade flow with direct-to-consumer branded merchandise through the Wave Storefront and a community-driven marketing engine spanning the Wave Blog, email newsletter, social channels (Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube/Wave Rave TV), the Pink Pot Ambassador influencer program, the Wave Fan Club, and annual events such as National Wave Day (May 3). End customers are primarily U.S., Canadian, and Australian home gardeners, with additional distribution in the UK, South Korea, China, and Australia; commercial growers, retailers, and professional landscapers serve as secondary B2B segments.
Wave firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Wave
- Legal name
- Wave (brand of Ball Horticultural Company)
- Website
- https://wavegardening.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1995
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Wave is a 30-year consumer horticulture brand owned by Ball Horticultural Company, marketing proprietary spreading petunia and pansy varieties to home gardeners across North America, Australia, and additional global markets through retail garden centers, big box stores, and online seed companies.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Wave industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Ornamental Horticultural Plants
- NAICS
- Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production (1114)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Plant Breeding & Variety Development (Conventional) (AFAGAIAF)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Propagation & Seedling/Plug Production (Vegetable Transplants, Tissue-Culture Liners) (AFAGAHAG)
Keywords
Where Wave is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- West Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Wave business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Seed and Plant Sales: Wave generates revenue through the sale of Wave Petunia and Cool Wave Pansy seeds and young plants (plugs) to commercial growers, who then propagate and sell finished plants to retailers and consumers. The brand also sells branded merchandise through the Wave Storefront.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
Wave product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Wave develops, breeds, and markets spreading petunia and pansy plant varieties through its Wave Petunias (Original, Tidal Wave, Easy Wave, Shock Wave, E3 Easy Wave series) and Cool Wave Pansies product lines. The company sells seeds and young plants (plugs) to commercial growers via Ball Horticultural Company's Pan American Seed division, while finished plants reach home gardeners through independent garden centers, big box retailers, and partner online seed companies. Wave also operates a branded merchandise storefront selling apparel and accessories.
Product overview
Wave Gardening offers a comprehensive portfolio of spreading flower varieties centered around two core product lines: Wave Petunias and Wave Pansies. Wave Petunias include multiple series (Original Wave, Tidal Wave, Easy Wave, Shock Wave) launched from 1995 onwards, each offering distinct growth habits, bloom sizes, and color options for different gardening applications from groundcovers to hanging baskets. Wave Pansies, branded as Cool Wave Pansies, were introduced in 2012 to provide cool-season color. The company also operates a merchandise store selling Wave-branded apparel. All products are distributed through Ball Horticultural Company.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Wave Petunias: Original spreading petunias introduced in 1995, known for dramatic spread, exceptionally long bloom time, and superior weather resistance.
- Tidal Wave Petunias
- Easy Wave Petunias
- Shock Wave Petunias
- Cool Wave Pansies
Products and services
- Wave Petunias
Quantifiable outcome
- Spread up to 4 feet providing ground-hugging carpet of color
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Wave
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Wave technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Wave partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Pennsylvania Horticultural SocietyminorWave Team partnered with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society at the 2024 Philadelphia Flower Show, hosting a Cool Wave Potting Party event for show attendees.
- Tu Bloom DesignsminorWave partnered with Tu Bloom Designs for garden installations at the Philadelphia Flower Show. The partnership creates visually stunning displays showcasing Wave plants in landscape applications.
- Ball Horticultural CompanycoreBall Horticultural Company is the parent company and exclusive global marketer of Wave Petunias. Anna Ball, president of Ball Horticultural, and Garden Manager Jim Nau recognized Wave Purple's potential at All-America Selections trials and rushed their team to Japan to secure the breeding rights. Ball's Pan American Seed division produces Wave seeds and plugs.
- Japanese Beer Company (Original Breeder)coreThe original Wave Petunia was bred by a Japanese beer company that was exploring wine-grape breeding opportunities. Their horticulturists discovered a vigorous spreading petunia growing wild and, after many seasons of development, produced the first Wave Purple seed.
- Burpee, W. AtleeminorBurpee is an online and catalog seed company that offers Wave Petunias and Wave Pansies for consumer purchase, distributing Wave products to home gardeners nationwide.
- Park SeedminorPark Seed Company offers Wave Petunias through catalog and online sales, making Wave products accessible to home gardeners across the U.S.
- Harris SeedsminorHarris Seeds distributes Wave Petunias to consumers through their catalog and e-commerce platform serving garden centers and home gardeners.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves14 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Wave competitors and assessment
Company assessmentRegional players
- Park Seed: Long-established US seed catalog and online retailer that distributes Wave products alongside its own branded seeds. Comparable as a Wave distribution partner with overlapping consumer base in the home gardening segment.
- Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee & Company): Major US seed brand that distributes Wave products through its channels but also breeds and sells its own branded flower and vegetable seeds. Functions as both a Wave channel partner and indirect competitor in home gardener seed sales.
Broad incumbents
- Dümmen Orange: Large ornamental plant breeder with branded retail programs (Including Calliope, Dahlita, and Confetti Garden). Competes with Wave in pot and bedding plant categories through similar trade and retail channels.
- Syngenta Flowers: Global flower breeding and seed company competing with Wave in petunias, pansies, and other ornamentals. Serves overlapping commercial grower and retail channels with branded genetics programs.
- Sakata Seed: Major global horticultural seed company with significant flower breeding programs including petunias and pansies. Competes in overlapping categories with Wave through commercial grower channels and branded retail offerings.
Others
- PanAmerican Seed: Ball Horticultural Company's wholesale seed division that actually produces Wave seeds and plugs. Sister company/entity within Ball that supplies Wave's commercial grower network and is foundational to Wave's production.
Direct peers
- Proven Winners: Branded ornamental plant line marketed to home gardeners through similar retail channels (independent garden centers, big box retailers). Competes directly with Wave in spreading petunias, calibrachoa, and other annual categories with comparable branding and trade marketing support.
- Suntory Flowers: Japanese breeder that pioneered Surfinia spreading petunias, the original spreading petunia category. Direct competitor to Wave using proprietary breeding, with similar global distribution model through licensees and branded plant programs.
Emerging players
- Selecta One: European ornamental plant breeder with branded retail programs in petunias, calibrachoa, and vegetative annuals. Niche competitor to Wave in spreading petunia and similar low-maintenance ornamentals.
- Benary: German ornamental plant breeder with petunia, pansy, and other bedding plant genetics. Competes with Wave at the breeding/production level and supplies commercial growers with competitive flower varieties.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Wave social profiles
Digital presenceWave financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Wave leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Wave funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Wave M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Wave
What does Wave do?
Wave develops, breeds, and markets spreading petunia and pansy plant varieties through its Wave Petunias (Original, Tidal Wave, Easy Wave, Shock Wave, E3 Easy Wave series) and Cool Wave Pansies product lines. The company sells seeds and young plants (plugs) to commercial growers via Ball Horticultural Company's Pan American Seed division, while finished plants reach home gardeners through independent garden centers, big box retailers, and partner online seed companies. Wave also operates a branded merchandise storefront selling apparel and accessories.
Is Wave a public or private company?
Wave is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Wave founded?
Wave was founded in 1995.
Where is Wave based?
Wave is headquartered in West Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does Wave make money?
One revenue line is on record: seed and Plant Sales.
Who are Wave's main competitors?
Regional players on record are Park Seed and Burpee (W. Atlee Burpee & Company). Broad incumbents are Dümmen Orange, Syngenta Flowers and Sakata Seed. PanAmerican Seed is listed as an others. Direct peers are Proven Winners and Suntory Flowers. Emerging players are Selecta One and Benary.
Does Wave have an API?
No public API is recorded for Wave.
What industry is Wave in?
Wave's product category is Ornamental Horticultural Plants. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAGAIAF, Plant Breeding & Variety Development (Conventional), with a secondary code of AFAGAHAG, Propagation & Seedling/Plug Production (Vegetable Transplants, Tissue-Culture Liners). Its NAICS code is 1114.