DOWNERS GROVE, IL – The All-America Selections (AAS) Board of Directors met recently to approve two holdovers from previous trials as the first two winners for the 2013 gardening season. A July introduction is more timely for various wholesalers in that they can better plan to include these two new AAS Winners in their offerings later this summer, into fall and winter.
Canna 'South Pacific Scarlet'
AAS Flower Award Winner
Allow ‘South Pacific’ to add a touch of the tropics to your garden with showy, 4” flowers that bloom all summer long in a delicious shade of scarlet.
AAS Judges raved about this first F1 hybrid canna from seed because it is such a floriferous bloomer. ‘South Pacific’ grows up 4-5’ tall, providing a great grouping of specimen plants or a back-of-the-border focal point. The colorful blooms are produced on a flower spike held above the large leafed statuesque plants.
Home gardeners will love the robust nature and the many flower-laden branches it produces. ‘South Pacific’ boasts 6-7 stems per plant and delivers larger flowers than other seed cannas. The scarlet flowers appear early, bloom consistently all summer and withstand a light frost better than comparisons. As with other cannas, ‘South Pacific’ tolerates wet conditions so it can be used as a pond border or in other similar growing conditions.
Canna is a perennial but can be treated as an annual by northern gardeners. Rhizomes can be dug before first frost and stored properly for the next season. Bred by Takii & Co. Ltd.
AAS® Winner Data
Genus species: Canna generalis
Common name: Canna
Unique qualities: First F1 seed canna, more vigorous and sturdy than other seed propagated cannas, non-stop flowering all season long.
Flower color: Scarlet
Foliage color: Green
Flower form: Standard
Flower size: 4-4.5 inches
Plant height: 4-5 feet
Plant width: 12-18 inches
Plant type: Tender perennial in zones 7-10
Garden location: Full sun
Garden spacing: 18-24 inches
Length of time from sowing seed to flower: 11-12 weeks
Closest comparisons on market: ‘Tropical’ series
Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’
AAS Flower Award Winner
This stunning first-year flowering echinacea captures the spirit of the North American plains by producing a delightful mix of flower colors from rich purple, pink, red and orange tones to lighter yellows, creams and white. This wide range of flower colors on well branched, durable plants are sure to please the color preferences of any gardener. As an added bonus, ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ does not require a lot of water and offers a wide-range of uses from the perennial border, in a mass landscape planting, in a butterfly garden or as a cut flower.
The AAS judges and their trial garden visitors raved about the attractiveness of the flowers and the range of colors while appreciating its sturdiness and low water needs. Even during wind and rain, this compact plant does not topple over like many echinacea. The variety of intense, bright colors adds sparkle to the garden from mid-summer through fall. As an added bonus, this maintenance-free echinacea doesn’t need deadheading to provide summer long beauty. Bred by Kieft Seed
AAS® Winner Data
Genus species: Echinacea hybrida
Common name: Coneflower
Unique qualities: Vivid color range in a first year flowering perennial from seed
Flower color: Shades of purple, pink, red, orange, yellow, cream & white
Foliage color: Green
Flower form: Single daisy
Flower size: 3-3.5 inches
Plant height: 26-32 inches
Plant width: 25-30 inches
Plant type: First year flowering perennial
Garden location: Full sun
Garden spacing: 24 inches
Length of time from sowing seed to flower: 23-24 weeks from a January sowing
As with all AAS Winners, these new, never-before-sold entries were trialed by the esteemed AAS Trial Judges who are trained and experienced horticulture professionals. A complete list of judges and trial sites can be found on the AAS Website.
These newest AAS Winners are available for immediate sale. Commercial growers should inquire with their favorite seed supplier. Consumers will find this seed as supply becomes available in the coming months with catalog companies, in seed packets, from mail order companies and from various websites.
AAS Winners will also be available as young plants in lawn & garden retail stores next spring.
Complete data sheets on this and all AAS Winners are available on the newly designed AAS website. For further information contact Diane Blazek, All-America Selections at dblazek@aas-ngb.org. Follow us on:
All-America Selections is a non-profit organization founded in 1932 to test new flowers and vegetables for home gardening. We utilize a network of 70 judges in over 40 trials grounds across North America to rate entries against comparisons. We then use an active publicity program to promote the best performers that are declared AAS Winners.
Source: All-America Selections
