DOWNERS GROVE, IL – All-America Selections is very proud to announce still more 2015 AAS Winners bringing the grand total of introductions for the 2015 gardening year to twenty-five. The seven Winners detailed below join the twelve announced last November and six announced last July. This is a 75 year high for AAS since 1939 was the last time there were as many winners.
Many of the Winners announced for 2015 are the first in a class to be granted an AAS award, such as Brussels Sprouts, garlic chives, oregano and pak choi.
This is great news for growers, retailers and consumers because now, with such an assortment of plant classes, an entire garden can be designed using AAS winning varieties that have proven, superior garden performance.
This group of 2015 Winners includes:
- Basil Persian Regional Winner (Heartland, Mountain/Southwest and West/Northwest)
- Beet Avalanche – National Winner
- Broccoli Artwork F1 – National Winner
- Chives, Garlic Geisha – National Winner
- Dianthus Jolt™ Pink F1- National Winner
- Oregano Cleopatra – Regional Winner (Northeast and West/Northwest)
- Petunia Tidal Wave ® Red Velour F1 – National Winner
With this announcement, these varieties become available for immediate sale. Brokers and growers can purchase these varieties immediately. Consumers will find these Winners for sale in the coming months as supply gradually becomes available throughout the chain of distribution.
A complete list of trial grounds and judges can be found here.
Many AAS Winners are classics and are great selling items when properly designated as an award winner. MultiPackaging Solutions Horticulturist/Project manager Julie Finucane says this about AAS Winners: “I am impressed by how many of the older AAS Winners are still popular tags in our inventory. It’s a testament to the program’s value.”
A complete list of all AAS Winners since 1932 can be found here. Note that the AAS Winners are now sortable by Flowers from Seed, Flowers from Cuttings and Vegetables.
Basil Persian
AAS 2015 Edible Winner
Regional Winner (Heartland, Mountain/Southwest and West/Northwest)
The first of three organic herbs we are introducing as AAS Winners—another first for this organization! Persian Basil is a large, vigorous plant that is a prolific producer of pleasant tasting leaves for your culinary adventures. Not only is the taste excellent, but the green foliage, sturdy branches and large leaves make for a great ornamental plant. An additional bonus is that this Winner is late to produce flowers, which often make basil develop a bitter taste. Need one more reason to try Persian Basil? The bees were very active around this entry in the trials so you’ll also do your pollinator friends a favor having this basil in your garden.
Bred by Terra Organics
AAS® Winner Data
Genus species: Ocimum basilicum
Common name: Persian basil, anise basil
Leaf taste: Sweet flavor
Leaf size: 1 x 2/3 inches
Leaf shape: Flattened
Leaf color: Green/silvery leaves with attractive purple stems
Plant type: Annual
Plant height: 12-15 inches
Plant width/spread: 15 inches
Plant habit: Bushy
Garden location: Full sun
Garden spacing: 12-15 inches
Number of fruits: Prolific
Length of time to harvest: 30 days from transplant, 75 days from seed
Closest comparisons on market: Cinnamon Basil, Siam Queen
Beet Avalanche
AAS 2015 Edible Winner
National Winner
For any non beet-lovers, this might just be the variety to change your mind! At least that’s what happened with one AAS Judge who previously, pretty much despised beets. Now he states, “This beet has made me a believer!” Avalanche exhibits a mild, sweet taste with a uniform root shape and no reddish tinge, making for more attractive produce. Judges raved about the raw eating quality when they discovered there was no earthy beety taste, nor any bitter aftertaste. As for garden performance, there’s hardly any vegetable easier or quicker to grow and in just 50 days, you too can have delicious white beets.
Bred by Bejo Seeds
AAS® Winner Data
Genus species: Beta Vulgaris
Common name: Beet
Fruit flavor: Very sweet
Fruit size: 2.75 – 3 inches
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit color: White
Plant type: Annual
Plant height: 12 inches
Plant width/spread: 6 inches
Plant habit: Bushy
Garden location: Full sun
Garden spacing: 15 seeds per foot, rows 12-18” apart
Number of fruits: 1
Length of time to harvest: 50 days from sowing seed
Disease resistances: Very good tolerance to Cercospora
Closest comparisons on market: Blankoma, Albino
Broccoli Artwork F1
AAS 2015 Edible Winner
National Winner
Artwork is a unique and beautiful dark green stem broccoli that has only recently become available to home gardeners. Previously, stem or baby broccoli was exclusively available in gourmet markets and up-scale restaurants. Now home gardeners can make the art of gardening come alive with this delicious, long-yielding variety. Artwork starts out similar to a regular crown broccoli but after harvesting that first crown, easy-to-harvest tender and tasty side shoots continue to appear long into the season, resisting warm temperature bolting better than other stem broccolis currently on the market.Bred by: Seminis Vegetable Seeds
AAS® Winner Data
Genus species: Brassica oleracea Italica
Common name: Broccoli
Fruit flavor: Tasty, sweet
Fruit size: Main head is removed at 11/8” diameter to initiate side shoots with 6-7” long stems
Fruit shape: Elongated 4-8 long side shoots with a 1-2 inch diameter floret
Fruit color: Dark green
Plant color: Blue green
Plant type: Annual
Plant height: 30 inches
Plant habit: Upright
Garden location: Full sun
Garden spacing: 8 inches
Length of time to harvest: 55 days from transplant, 85 days from sowing seed
Closest comparisons on market: Apollo F1, Aspabroc F1
Chives, Garlic Geisha
AAS 2015 Edible Winner
National Winner
The second of three organic herbs in this grouping of AAS Winners, Geisha is a vigorous grower with a nice ‘just-right’ garlic flavor. Slightly wider, flatter and more refined leaves topped by pretty white flower stalks late in the season mean this is another edible that can serve a dual purpose as an ornamental. Geisha is a great culinary herb for use in stir-fries, soups, compound butters and as a fresh garnish for a variety of dishes. Although late flowering is a good thing in herbs, when Geisha does burst into bloom, the butterfly inhabitants in your garden will be very happy!
Bred by Terra Organics
AAS® Winner Data
Genus species: Allium tuberosum
Common name: Garlic chives
Leaf flavor: Pleasant mild garlic flavor
Leaf size: 12 inches long
Leaf shape: Long strap leaves
Leaf color: Bright green leaves, white flower
Plant type: Perennial
Plant height: 18-20 inches
Plant width/spread: 9-10 inches
Plant habit: Upright
Garden location: Full sun
Garden spacing: 10-12 inches
Number of fruits: Huge yield
Length of time to harvest: 30 days from transplanting, 75 days from sowing seed
Closest comparisons on market: Garlic Chives, Nira
Dianthus Jolt™ Pink F1
AAS 2015 Bedding Plant Winner
National Winner
This is a dianthus with brightly colored and large, showy flower heads on strong stems that perform extremely well all summer long. Jolt is the most heat tolerant dianthus on the market, sporting very showy, bright pink fringed flowers. Judges called this entry the “Best of the trials! We wish all dianthus performed this well.” This is an easy to grow and trouble-free annual for the gardener looking for neat and tidy low-maintenance flower varieties.
Greenhouse growers should note that Jolt is shorter on the bench, making it better for shipping and the uniform blooms last up to four weeks longer than the comparison varieties making it an excellent choice for landscapers.
Bred by PanAmerican Seed
AAS® Winner Data
Genus species: Dianthus barbatus interspecific
Common name: Dianthus
Flower color: Rose pink
Foliage color: Dark green
Flower size: Flower umbel of 4.33 – 4.72 inches
Bloom time: Late spring to frost
Plant height: 16 to 20 inches
Plant type: Annual, semi-hardy to Zone 7 or milder
Garden location: Full sun
Garden spacing: 10 to 14 inches
Weather tolerance: Cold, heat, rain and wind
Closest comparisons on market: Amazon F1 Rose Magic, Noverna Coral, Barbarini Rose
Oregano Cleopatra
AAS 2015 Edible Winner
Regional Winner (Northeast and West/Northwest)
Cleopatra is the third of the organic herbs introduced at this time. Pretty silver gray foliage makes this another herb that will be appreciated for its ornamental value. Unique from Greek and Italian oreganos, Cleopatra has a mildly spicy, pepperminty flavor perfect in Mediterranean dishes, soups and sauces. This compact, trailing plant produces a high yield of leaves that are wonderful as a dried spice when fresh isn’t an option.
Bred by Genesis Seeds, offered by Terra Organics
AAS® Winner Data
Genus species: Origanum syrica
Common name: Oregano
Leaf flavor: Spicy flavor, best when finely chopped or dried
Leaf shape: Tiny rounded leaves with fine hairs
Leaf color: Gray green with silver hairs
Plant type: Perennial
Plant height: 5-6 inches
Plant width/spread: 9-10 inches
Plant habit: Low growing, spreading and trailing
Garden location: Full sun
Garden spacing: 7-8 inches
Number of fruits: Huge yield
Length of time to harvest: 30 days from transplanting, 100 days from sowing seed indoors
Closest comparisons on market: Greek, Italian
Petunia Tidal Wave Red Velour F1
AAS 2015 Flower Winner
National Winner
Fabulous and stunning color on a Wave petunia! The first Tidal Wave to win an AAS award was Silver in 2002. Now there is Velour Red with gorgeous deep red velvety blooms that don’t fade even in the heat of summer. Large flowers literally cover the vigorously spreading plants that rarely need deadheading because new blooms continuously pop up and cover the old, spent blooms. A perfect solution for the time-crunched gardener or anyone looking for petunias that are carefree. Tidal Wave petunias are the tallest of the Wave family and bloom over and over all season long and recover quickly, even after hard rains. Tidal Wave is an excellent landscape performer, covering a large area quickly and beautifully.
Bred by PanAmerican Seed
AAS® Winner Data
Genus species: Petunia x hybrida
Common name: Petunia
Flower color: Unique velvety red
Foliage color: Green
Flower size: 2 to 2.5 inches
Bloom time: Summer to frost
Plant height: If planted 12” apart, plants will form a dense mounded hedge up to 32” tall. If planted 24” apart, plants will spread like a ground cover to up to 5 feet across
Plant type: Annual
Garden location: Full sun to part shade
Garden spacing: 12” up to 24”
Weather tolerance: Cold, heat, rain
Closest comparisons on market: Ramblin’ Red, Tidal Wave Cherry
Source: All-America Selections
