All America Selections for 2002

Terry L. Yockey

            If you aren’t familiar with the AAS program, each year several different flowers and vegetables are grown in trial sites all across North America. Each plant is evaluated by a judge (usually a horticultural professional) and rated on qualities such as form, color and disease and pest resistance. Vegetables and herbs are also judged on yield, taste, fruit quality and earliness to harvest. Only the entries with the highest average score are chosen to be an All-America Selection.

            Some notable past winners were ‘Profusion Orange’ Zinnia, Salvia 'Lady in Red' and the geranium, 'Freckles'.

            This year they have awarded the AAS designation to 13 plants—7 flowers and 6 vegetables or herbs.  I’m pretty impressed with all of them but I am especially looking forward to trying the new cleome ‘Sparkler Blush’.  Cleome is one of my favorite annuals, but its size does tend to dominate any garden design. The new light pink ‘Sparker Blush’ is touted as the first dwarf cleome and should grow to be only about 3 feet tall and wide. Others in the series are ‘Sparkler Lavender’, ‘Sparkler Rose’ and ‘Sparkler White’.  I’ll be trying all of them!

           Last year I grew a beautiful ornamental (but edible) hot pepper named ‘Pretty in Purple’. I still plan on including it in my kitchen garden plan, but I am going to also grow  ‘Chilly Chili’, a new ornamental pepper that has had the “heat” bred out of it.  Like ‘Pretty in Purple’ the fruit changes color all season long, but unlike the other pepper the bright red, orange and yellow peppers are held high above the foliage for even more effect.

            Last season a gardening friend discovered that by planting annual gloriosa daisies between her perennials, she had dependable color most of the season.  She will be happy to learn that this year one of the AAS selections is an improved variety of gloriosa daisy named ‘Cherokee Sunset’.  ‘Cherokee Sunset’ Rudbeckia has 3 to 4 inch double or semi-double flowers from midsummer to frost in sunset shades ranging from yellow and orange to bronze and mahogany. 

            I’m not usually a big fan of petunias, but there is a lot to recommend the new ‘Tidal Wave Silver’.  The color is an almost iridescent silvery-lavender and you do not need to pinch or prune to keep the flowers coming all season long.  Unlike other petunias, you are the one who decides the height of the mature plant.  Space them close together and provide a support and they will climb to about 2 to 3 feet.  If you plant them a foot apart they will only reach 16 to 22 inches and form a large mound.

            Even with the hundreds (maybe thousands?) of hybrid geranium varieties already available, the new ‘Black Magic Rose’ managed to distinguish itself with its unusual dark burgundy colored foliage edged by green.  The bright rose flowers are carried all season long, however, the unusual bicolor foliage would be attractive even without the florets.

            For those who love hybrid tea roses, I am proud to announce that the AARS (All-America Rose Selections, Inc.) has chosen ‘Love and Peace’ introduced by our own Bailey Nurseries in Newport, Minnesota is the 2002 AARS Award Winner. ‘Love and Peace’ is disease-resistant and grows to about 4-5 feet by 3 feet. The large, sweetly scented flowers are golden yellow edged with pink and resemble those of its famous relative the Peace rose.

            To find photographs and descriptions of all thirteen AAS Winners please visit their website at http://www.all-americaselections.org/. All AAS Rose Winners past and present can be found at www.rose.org.

Most All America Selection Winners are available at Park Seed