All-America Selections tests and introduces new flowers and vegetables each year that have done well in trials across North America. This year there were two flower winners, one bedding plant winner (two cultivars) and three vegetable winners.
Descriptions and images below are taken directly from All-America Selection materials. For more detailed information including how to grow them, go to their
site, or click on the links below for any of the selections.
Canna 'South Pacific Scarlet' F1, 2013 AAS Flower Award Winner Allow 'South Pacific' to add a touch of the tropics to your garden with showy, 4-inch flowers that bloom all summer long in a delicious shade of scarlet. Large leafed statuesque plants reach 4 to 5 feet tall providing a back-of-the-border focal point.
This variety is grown from seed, not tuber. Compact in habit and well suited for both landscape and container use. Canna 'South Pacific Scarlet' prefers warm and humid conditions over 77F. This variety is more vigorous, more uniform, and has more basal branching than Canna Tropical Red.
Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit', 2013 AAS Flower Award Winner This stunning first-year flowering echinacea captures the spirit of the North American plains by producing a delightful mix of flower colors from rich purple, pink, red and orange tones to lighter yellows, creams and white. This wide range of flower colors on well branched, durable plants are sure to please the color preferences of any gardener. As an added bonus, ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ does not require a lot of water and offers a wide range of uses from the perennial border, in a mass landscape planting, in a butterfly garden or as a cut flower.
The AAS judges and their trial garden visitors raved about the attractiveness of the flowers and the range of colors while appreciating its sturdiness and low water needs. Even during wind and rain, this compact plant does not topple over like many echinacea. The variety of intense, bright colors adds sparkle to the garden from mid-summer through fall. As an added bonus, this maintenance-free echinacea doesn’t even need deadheading to provide summer long beauty.
Geranium 'Pinto Premium White to Rose' F1, 2013 AAS Bedding Plant Award Winner This addition to the 'Pinto Premium' series is a must-have! Not only is the flower coloration unique and ombre-like, but the numerous 5-inch blooms are long-lasting in the garden. Petals start out white then deepen to rose-pink as flowers mature, giving an attractive bicolor effect. Dense, well-branched plants sport deep green leaves with darker zones that contrast beautifully with the light-colored flowers. 'Pinto Premium White to Rose' is a great choice for carefree, colorful summer garden beds or patio containers.
Melon 'Melemon' F1, 2013 AAS Vegetable Award Winner The earliness, high yield on healthy, strong plants and superior taste all contributed to this melon becoming an AAS Winner. Judges related the taste of this melon to honeydew, but with a surprising and delicious tanginess. A uniform fruit shape makes it perfect for market growers as well as home gardeners. Each personal-sized fruit has refreshing crisp flesh and a unique sweet-tart taste.
Tomato 'Jasper' F1, 2013 AAS Vegetable Award Winner Excellent taste, a long harvest window and outstanding performance in the trials contribute to this cherry tomato’s success. Judges liked the texture and sweetness of the tomato as well as the uniformity of the fruits that grow on vigorous, healthy plants. Jasper is a high yielding variety with fruits that stay on the vine and then hold well after ripening both on the vine and post-harvest. Vigorous vines require little or no fertilization. An added bonus is fusarium resistance and the ability to overcome weather-related stresses.
Watermelon 'Harvest Moon' F1, 2013 AAS Vegetable Award Winner
The first ever hybrid,
triploid seedless watermelon to win a coveted AAS Award! Similar to the popular heirloom variety, ‘Moon and Stars,’
'Harvest Moon' is an improvement in that it features healthy, shorter vines that produce medium-sized fruits and sweet, crisp pinkish-red flesh. 'Harvest Moon' retains the familiar dark green rind with yellow dots, like that of ‘Moon and Stars’ but is seedless, earlier to ripen, higher yielding and better tasting. As one judge said, “What’s not to like?"
Zinnia 'Profusion Double Deep Salmon' 2013 AAS Bedding Plant Award Winner
'Profusion Double Deep Salmon' features intensely vibrant, deep pink-orange flowers with double petals. Like other Profusion Zinnias, Deep Salmon flowers continuously from spring through frost and is easy to grow. It is self-cleaning, disease resistant and grows well in a range of climates, including areas with high night temperatures. The flowers can grow 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter and plants grow 14 inches tall and 24 inches wide.
Zinnia 'Profusion Double Hot Cherry' 2013 AAS Bedding Plant Award Winner
This award winner features rich rose, double petalled blooms which cover flower continuously from spring through frost. The bright color does not fade, even under high temperatures. Like all Profusion, 'Double Hot Cherry' is easy to grow as it is self-cleaning, disease resistant and grows well in a wide range of climates, including areas with high night temperatures. The flowers can grow 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter and plants grow 8 to 14 inches tall and 24 inches wide.
The AAS Winners for 2012 can be viewed
here.
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