If a plant is tested and trialed in a range of situations across the whole of the United States or the whole of Europe, and gets a top award, there’s a good chance it will do well just about anywhere. That’s what the Fleuroselect and All-America Selections awards do, they highlight very best plants – seed-raised plants - which are not only colorful but adaptable.
While the Fleuroselect awards concentrate on flowers the All-America Selections also include vegetables – but all the award winners, from both schemes, are usually available on both sides of the Atlantic although sometimes only in mixtures or in nurseries. Entries for the All-America Selections are assessed at fifty three locations across the country (Gilroy, CA, above - click to enlarge), Fleuroselect entries are assessed at thirty sites across Europe.
There are five All-America Selections for 2012 – three ornamentals and two vegetables – and five Fleuroselect winners for 2012. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll tell you a little about each one. Some are available to home gardeners, some not yet, but they should all become available over the following months so I’ll add a search link at the bottom.
The Fleuroselect Gold Medal Winners for 2012 are:
Agastache ‘Astelio Indigo' (below, click to enlarge)
Alcea ‘Spring Celebrities Crimson’
Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ (below, click to enlarge)
Salvia ‘Summer Jewel Red’
Viola ‘Sorbet XP Delft Blue’ (below, click to enlarge)
The All-America Selections for 2012 are:
Ornamental Pepper 'Black Olive'
Pepper 'Cayennetta' (below, click to enlarge)
Salvia 'Summer Jewel Pink '(below, click to enlarge)
Watermelon 'Faerie'
Vinca 'Jams 'N Jellies Blackberry'
Images courtesy of All-America Selections and Fleuroselect. Thank you.
Graham - good to see you highlighting some great new 'bedding plants' - hardly dare use the phrase - bedding is seen as so unfashionable in some quarters but there is such a wonderful palette of colorful, fast-growing and rewarding plants that they shouldn't be ignored as they so often are!
Posted by: Ian Cooke | February 11, 2012 at 02:31 PM
I know, Ian, "bedding plants" has become such a damning phrase. There's also the word "annual", of course, which has a higher status in the US than in the UK, I think. In Britain, any plant that is referred to as an annual automatically gets kicked down a few notches in people's estimation - however gorgeous it is. I've started calling them "summer seasonals".
Posted by: Graham Rice | February 11, 2012 at 06:10 PM
nice post
Posted by: Business economy world | February 14, 2012 at 05:13 AM