As you continue to decide what might be fun and exciting to grow on your plot of earth this gardening season, sit back, relax and consider some of this year’s new award winning plant varieties.
Independent researchers every year check out hundreds of new varieties of flowers and vegetables grown in trial gardens around the country and those with the highest scores receive the All-America Selections (AAS) awards. Here are some of the 2015 winners:
Veggies:
•Broccoli Artwork – This dark green stem broccoli was previously only available to gourmet markets and restaurants but now home gardeners can grow this long-yielding variety in their own backyard. Artwork resists warm temperature bolting and sends out tender side shoots long into the season after the first main crown is harvested.
•Avalanche beet – A white beet with a mild sweet taste which judges loved for its raw eating quality and no earthy or bitter aftertaste. Avalanche produces uniform root shape and is ready for harvest in 50 days.
•Winter Squash Butterscotch – A compact butternut-type squash which produces high yields of exceptionally sweet fruit.
•Lettuce Sandy – First AAS winning lettuce since 1985, Sandy is an oakleaf-type lettuce with a multitude of sweet dark green leaves. Sandy also has exceptional disease resistance, especially to powdery mildew and is slow to bolt.
•Pak Choi Bopak – First Pak Choi to become an AAS winner. Bopak is a regional winner for the Northeast, Great Lakes, Mountain/Southwest. The leaves are tender and stalks are crisp and sweet. Bopak matures early.
•Tomato Chef’s Choice Pink – A regional award winner for the Southeast and Great Lakes. Produces very large yields of 12-14 ounce pink beefsteak tomatoes. Another bonus, these indeterminate plants have good disease resistance.
Herbs:
•Persian basil – A beautiful new basil that has sturdy branches and large, green leaves. Persian is a prolific producer and is late to flower.
•Chives, garlic geisha – A vigorous grower with slightly wider and flatter leaves. Geisha sends up white flower stalks late in the season which lend ornamental value
to the plant and attract butterflies.
•Oregano Cleopatra – Another very pretty plant, Cleopatra has silver-grey foliage. Differing from Greek and Italian oregano, Cleopatra has a mildly spicy, pepperminty flavor.
Annual Flowers:
•Dianthus jolt pink™ – The most heat tolerant dianthus on the market, jolt pink has bright pink flowers on strong stems which bloom throughout the summer. Jolt pink was called “best of the trials” by judges and is easy to grow, requiring little maintenance.
•Petunia tidal wave red velour – A stunner with deep red, velvety blooms that perform even in summer heat. The flowers are profuse and the plants spread vigorously. A carefree petunia, new blooms continually open to cover old, spent ones.
•Impatiens Bounce Pink Flame – Impatiens are making a comeback and this bright pink variety has the benefit of complete resistance to downy mildew. Blooms will last into the fall.
If you’re a fan of perennials, – The 2015 Perennial Plant of the Year™ is Geranium xcantabrigiense ‘Biokovo.‘ Hardy to zone 4, ‘Biokovo‘ performs best in sun to partial shade and features delicate pinkish-white flowers in spring and reddish orange foliage in fall.
Note: Thinkstock photos used for illustration do not represent new varieties mentioned in column.
