If you’ve started the search for your 2023 garden seeds, you’ve seen the red, white, and blue All-America Selections (AAS) logo in seed catalogs on pictures of certain varieties of perennials, flowers, and vegetables. Since 1932, the AAS logo on a photo has meant that judges from across North America have tested the new variety and deemed it has proven superior qualities. This can be helpful to home growers as they strive to pick the best flowers and vegetables for their gardens.
According to AAS, winners are determined by independent judges who look for significantly improved qualities in never before sold varieties. Judges look for earliness to bloom or harvest, disease or pest tolerance, novel colors of flowers, novel flower forms, total yield, length of flower or harvest, and overall performance in picking the most outstanding new varieties.
Winners are announced three times each year and the latest round of winners includes a mix of nine flowers, foliage plants, and vegetables.
Coleus Premium Sun Coral Candy is the first ever coleus from seed to win AAS designation. Plants are compact with unique multicolored foliage. Leaves are narrow and serrated and hold their color well, even in full sun. Mounded plants grow 10 to 16 inches high.
Another foliage plant, Colocasia Royal Hawaiian Waikiki – also known as elephant ears – has glossy leaves with bold coloration. Growing to 36 inches in height and width, the leaves feature pink veins and creamy centers. They can be grown in full-sun or large containers and are available only in plant form, not seed.
For perennial lovers, Echinacea Artisan Yellow Ombre has unusual golden yellow blooms all season. Available as seed, this echinacea has a uniform growth habit and multiple branches which produce large numbers of blooms.
Another flowering perennial, Leucanthemum Carpet Angel is a Shasta Daisy which grows to a height of six inches. This is the first-ever perennial ground cover to be selected by AAS, and spreads up to 20 inches. It features pure white blooms which look like angels dancing over a carpet of dark green foliage. It is available as a plant only.
Salvia Blue by You is also a perennial and sports rich blue flowers that bloom up to two weeks earlier than similar plants. This looks like a great selection for Western New York as it has excellent winter hardiness as well as heat tolerance, blooming from late spring into early fall. Remove spent flowers for repeat bloom. It is resistant to deer and rabbits and is available as a plant only.
Snapdragon Double Shot Orange Bicolor is a stunner with open-faced double flowers in shades of orange and orange-red. This plant is part of a new series of intermediate-height snapdragons with strong, well-branched stems which produce more blooms than similar type snapdragons. It grows 18 to 20 inches in height.
Veggie growers will want to seek-out Pepper Cayenne Wildcat with thick flesh walls, a smoky flavor, peppery sweetness, and a mild pungency. High-yielding plants produce eight-inch fruits which are straighter than traditional cayenne peppers.
Pepper Jalapeno San Joaquin is a super choice for gardeners who like to can, pickle, or make roasted stuffed jalapeños for summer parties. Most of the fruit is set in a short window, with each plant producing about 50 fruits with a hint of heat.
Squash Kabocha Sweet Jade admittedly has dry flesh, but it is sweet and rich in taste. Plants produce high yields of single-serving sized squash with a deep orange flesh. Bake, roast, or puree.
If you’ve been waiting for a tomato selection, Tomato Zenzei is it. This high-yielding Roma has fruit that ripens 70 to 80 days from transplanting, and the bushy and uniformly-shaped plants are easy to harvest. Zenzei is disease resistant, being less prone to blossom end rot issues than some Roma types. The fruits are meaty and flavorful.
Finally, if you’ve been searching for the perfect watermelon, Rubyfirm may be one to try. The fruits are small – about the size of a cantaloupe. The bright pink flesh is crispy and very sweet with minimal seeds. Plants yield two to three fruits per vine.
