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Index : Vegetable Gardening
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- 14. Look For "All American" Winners When Selecting Garden Plants - Top
Now is a great time to thumb through those spring garden catalogs in preparation for the spring planting season. As you do, be sure to check out those flower and vegetable varieties with a red, white and blue shield beside them. The shield designates the plant as an "All American Selections" award winning variety!
Each year, impartial judges from across the country evaluate new varieties of flower, and vegetable varieties. There is also a separate category for roses. Varieties are submitted for evaluation by seed companies who feel they have an improved type of petunia, tomato or other garden plant. They are grown and tested in trail gardens under the supervision of impartial judges, approved by the AAS Board of Directors.
To be judged an AAS Award Winner, the entry must be significantly improved over like varieties now on the market. Flowers are evaluated on the basis of novel flower forms, flower colors, flower show above foliage, fragrance, length of flowering season, and disease or pest
tolerances or resistance. Vegetables are judged looking for such traits as earliness to harvest, total yield, fruit taste, fruit quality, ease of harvest, plant habit, disease and pest resistance. The same varieties are evaluated by all judges in all trial gardens. Only the entries with the highest average score are considered to be worthy of an AAS Award.
Although there are no AAS Trail Gardens in the Southwest (the closest is in California), many of the past award winners have preformed well here in Tucson. The ‘Profusion' series of zinnia, ‘Cosmic Orange' cosmos, ‘Juliet' tomato, ‘Eight-Ball' squash, ‘Super-Star' sweet onion, are all recent award winners that have preformed well here.
Award winners for 2003 include several flower and vegetable varieties which hold promise for growing here in Tucson.
‘Blue Wave' Petunia is a new trailing petunia that grows and flowers well with minimal care. According to AAS sources, this variety requires no pinching or pruning to keep it in bloom for an extended time. It' low spreading profile makes it ideal for growing in hanging baskets and containers. It should be available in stores this spring.
‘Merlin Blue Morn" Petunia is another spreading petunia suited to hanging baskets and patio containers. AAS notes that it has a unique color pattern; pure white in the center with a soft transition to a velvety blue on the petal edge. The size of the blooms makes the color pattern show well from a distance.
‘Jaio Dark Red' Vinca has intense red blossoms, unusual for vinca, with a small white centers. According to trial results, this vinca is "not attractive to larger mammals such as deer". How that might translate to javelina is anyone's guess. It is also said to be extremely heat and drought tolerant, which certainly would be a selling point for us here in Tucson.
‘Corona Cherry Magic' Dianthus is the first of it's kind to have a random bicolor pattern. The flower can be entirely cherry red, entirely lavender or a mosaic of both colors. The mixed color pattern would provide an interesting informal "wildflower-like' appearance to plantings of this dianthus. According to AAS, plants reach 7 to 9 inches tall with a spread of 8 to 12 inches.
‘Papaya Pear' Summer Squash has the shape of a beautiful golden-fruited papaya. The bright yellow squash are ready to harvest just 40 days after planting. They keep producing in abundance if the squash are harvested when still small (about 3 inches in size). As with most golden summer squash, the smaller fruit has the best quality.
‘Angel' Melon is an early Mediterranean-type melon. Information from AAS indicates the melon has a high sugar content when compared to other such melons and has a "very sweet flavor". The 2 to 3-pound melons have a white interior with a crisp texture. Another desirable characteristic of this melon, according to AAS, is that the netting on the skin of the melon lets gardens know when it's ready to harvest by turning "creamy yellow when mature". Angel's fruit mature in about 60 days from planting, significantly shorter than most other melons.
Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona, 520-626-5161.
- Updated: January 12, 2003
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