All-America Selections for 2007

Terry L. Yockey

The first AAS Classic is as popular today as it was when it was first introduced in 1992. Wave® Purple or the Purple Wave petunia was the first groundcover petunia that did not grow vertically, but instead spread along the soil like a ground cover. The flower breeder, Mr. Daigaku Takeshita, searched the globe for wild petunias that were easy to grow, free flowering, and disease resistant. He crossed species and selected only the best offspring until he had created the first groundcover petunia…the award-winning Wave® Purple.

The other All-America Classics are also the best of the best. The ‘Majestics Giants Mix’ Pansy was the first pansy that did not require cool temperatures to set flowers and the ‘Ultra Crimson Star’ Petunia, and ‘Ideal Violet’ Dianthus have both been staples in beds, borders and containers for over 15 years.

But the last Classic is probably the most known of all. In 1994 gardeners were looking for a large tomato that had the old-fashioned beefsteak tomato taste, set fruit earlier and was disease resistant. The ‘Big Beef’ tomato was born and it is still one of the most popular red tomatoes in North America.

But enough of the Classics, there are also four NEW award winners this year. The first is ‘Fresh Look Gold’ celosia or cockscomb. ‘Fresh Look Gold’ plants are pest-free and have bright golden plumes that remain colorful all season long even without deadheading.

‘Pacifica Burgundy Halo’ is the first bicolor vinca that is burgundy with a large white center. Heat and drought resistant, this new variety is a good choice for full-sun deck or patio container plantings.

There is usually at least one petunia AAS award winner, and this year it is ‘Opera Supreme Pink Morn’. Quite a mouthful, but the name describes the iridescent blooms that are pink, shading to creamy white in the center with a pale yellow throat. This hybrid trailing petunia gets only 4 to 6 inches tall and flowers continuously without pruning or deadheading.

Pepper Hole Mole Park Seed

‘Holy Molé’ is the 2007 AAS Vegetable Award Winner. It is the first hybrid pasilla-type pepper, which is used to make the molé sauce often used in Mexican cuisine. ‘Holy Molé’ is resistant to the two common viruses that can stunt pepper plants which results in higher yields compared to similar varieties. The immature green peppers can be harvested in about 85 days from transplanting; however, if you leave the peppers on the plant they will mature to a dark chocolate color.

You can see all of these award-winning plants growing in AAS display gardens all over the United States such as the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens that I have included in "My Favorite Public Gardens."

For those of you that haven’t ever tried growing your own bedding plants now is a good time to start, so visit my article at http://www.northerngardening.com/stseeds.htm for more information on starting your own award-winning plants indoors.