Understanding All-America Selections: 3 Types of AAS Awards
October 30, 2026 | 1 min to read
All-America Selections gives three types of awards: Gold Medal, for rare breeding breakthroughs; National Winner, for plants that outperform comparisons in nearly all North American trial regions; and Regional Winner, for plants that excel in one to five specific regions.
Whether you are browsing seed catalogs, visiting your local garden center, or planning your spring flower beds, you have likely come across a distinct red, white and blue logo featuring the letters AAS.
Since 1932, All-America Selections (AAS) has served as the premier non-profit plant trialing organization in North America. Its mission is simple: to test new, unreleased plant cultivars against existing commercial market standards through unbiased, independent trial grounds managed by horticulture experts.
When a plant carries an AAS Winner stamp, it means it has proven itself exceptional in traits like bloom duration, disease resistance, heat tolerance, and overall landscape beauty. To help you choose plants best suited for your specific landscapes, AAS categorizes its award winners into three distinct award levels.
Read more about those award levels.