Win a trip to the Proven Winners ColorChoice trial & display gardens!

Celebrate the start of spring with Shrub Madness®, the only bracket competition that pits shrub against shrub in a no-holds-barred battle for the title of World Champion, with your votes determining which plant advances through the rounds. Playing along is easy!

• PART ONE: Fill out your bracket to be entered to win the grand prize: the winning shrubs, a $25o Corona Tools giftcard, and a trip for two to our beautiful 20-acre trial and display garden in Grand Haven, Michigan.
  The contest runs in prediction mode February 27 - March 5, 2023. Create an account and complete a bracket with your own predictions of how the tournament will play out. The Shrub Madness program will then keep track of your bracket, comparing it against how the matches actually turn out based on popular vote. You do not need to play along in prediction mode to vote or win prizes in Shrub Madness, but the grand prize will be awarded to whomever's prediction bracket comes closest to the actual results. Note: the bracket is best filled out on a larger screen, like a laptop or desktop.
• PART TWO: March 6-31, 2023, visit ShrubMadness.com to vote your favorite plants through to the next round of the competition. Registration is not necessary just to vote in the competition, but you can only win plants if you register (that's just because it's the only way we can get your information to contact you if you win. We promise we won't be spamming you, selling your information, or storing your information). 
  • Shrub Madness schedule: 
    • Bracket predictions: February 27 - March 5
    • Round 1 voting: March 6 - 12
    • Round 2 voting: March 13 - 16
    • Round 3 voting: March 17 - 21
    • Round 4 voting: March 22 - 26
    • Floral Finals voting: March 27 - 29
    • Championship voting: March 30 - 31

To read the official Shrub Madness contest rules, click here.

Every Proven Winners ColorChoice shrub is trialed and tested for an average of eight to ten years before introduction. This includes an in-garden trial in our twenty-acre garden in Grand Haven, Michigan. For the first time ever, we're giving away a trip to experience it first hand - and that winner could be you! 

​Complete your bracket to win a trip for you and a guest to meander along the grassy paths and wander among weigela, hydrangeas, butterfly bushes, and roses. Experience old favorites, new introductions, and plants still under evaluation. 

How to Register and Complete a Shrub Madness Bracket

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I win?
There are three ways registered users can win plants:

1. Round Drawings: At the end of each round, we’ll pick voters at random to win quart-sized selections of the current winning plants. 
2. Floral Finalists: At the end of the competition, four voters will be randomly selected to win one gallon Floral Finalists, the last four competing shrubs. 
3. Grand Prize: If you registered your Shrub Madness bracket between March 1-6, you’re in the running for the Grand Prize: one gallon Floral Finalists, a $250 Corona Tools giftcard, and a trip for two to beautiful Grand Haven, MI, to tour the Proven Winners® ColorChoice® trial and display garden. Whoever has the closest bracket will win!

​Why can’t I log in?
Even if you have registered for Shrub Madness in the past, you will need to create a new registration this year. We don’t store your information from year to year. Signing up is simple:

• Go to www.shrubmadness.com/play-shrub-madness
• Click on the blue “log in” button in the upper right hand corner.
• In the pop up window, click on the white “sign up” tab to the left of the blue log in tab.
• You’ll be asked to enter a username, e-mail address, and password (it can be the same as last year).
• Click “sign up.”
• Start playing!

I receive your emails regularly, but when I tried to sign in, it says I’m not registered.
Our newsletter database and Shrub Madness player database are separate. Please register your email to play.

Why can’t I save my predictions?
If the “save my predictions” button is gray, a match up is missing, usually the final match up. When all matches are complete, the button will turn blue.

How do I vote?
Visit Play Shrub Madness daily. The current round's match ups will be displayed as two plants images, side by side. Click the blue check mark for the plant you like more. The check marks switch from blue to green when your vote is completed.

How is it decided who wins free plants?
We download the voting information as a spreadsheet at the end of each round and use Random.org to generate a random number for each winner. Those numbers are matched to the spreadsheet row and voila! Plant prize! We select a winner for each match up: 32 the first round, 16 the second, 8 the third, etc. At the end, we’ll randomly select four voters for Floral Finalists prize packs using the same method. One grand prize is awarded to whomever most accurately predicted the bracket outcome. 

​In the event that a plant is not hardy in the winner's climate, we will work with the winner to select an appropriate substitution. Plants will ship at the proper planting time for the winner's area. All plants are provided and shipped by GreatGardenPlants.com

How is the Leader Board scored?

• Round 1 – 2 pts per correct answer (available 64 pts)
• Round 2 – 16 pts per correct answer (available 256 pts)
• Round 3 – 64 pts per correct answer (available 512 pts)
• Round 4 – 256 pts per correct answer (available 1024 pts)
• Round 5 – 1024 pts per correct answer (available 2048 pts)
• Round 6 – 4096 pts per correct answer (available 4096 pts)

There are a possible 7980 points for a perfect bracket.

Can Canadians enter this contest?
Of course! We have had many Canadian winners over the years.