1999 All-America Selections

Flower & Garden Magazine, Feb, 1999 by Kris Wetherbee

Reliable Varieties That Bring Gardening Success

We all make them, and then usually break them. New Year's resolutions often quickly become a thing of the past. But you're in luck if one of your resolutions is to have a successful gardening year. With the new 1999 All-America Selections, the guess work has been taken out of finding outstanding vegetable and flower varieties to grow.

New entries are submitted from plant breeders all over the world. Professional horticulturists then test and evaluate these entries in field trials, with conditions much like your home garden, throughout the United States and Canada. The end results are winning varieties judged to be remarkably reliable and productive under a wide range of growing conditions. These proven varieties may be your ticket to gardening success.

What makes these 1999 AAS winners a cut above the rest? It takes more than just reliability and productivity. Notable qualities also include exceptional resistance to disease and stress related to weather and insects. Flowers triumph with their unique colors and perpetual flowering, and vegetables take over with fantastic flavor and abundant yields.

So just how valuable are the All-America Selections to you as a gardener? According to Rose Marie McGee, president of Nichols Garden Nursery in Albany, Ore., they're extremely valuable. "One of the wonderful features about the AAS Winners is that they're not regionally specific. They're sold and grown all over the country, so gardeners can be assured that they will do well everywhere." Every year, Nichols Garden Nursery introduces many of the AAS winners in their mail-order retail herb and seed catalog.

As you look through your seed catalogs this year, read through the descriptions and you'll find other AAS winners from previous years. Some of these may be your own favorites that you grow every year, like `Buttercrunch' lettuce (AAS 1963), `Sugar Snap' pea (AAS 1979), `Sweet Success' cucumber (AAS 1983) and `Indian Summer' rudbeckia (AAS 1995). "Winners are often grown year after year, decade after decade," adds McGee.

This year's winners are full of new varieties that are distinctly different and include four vegetables along with eight fabulous flowers. These varieties promise you something special -- superior garden performance.

BEGONIA F1 HYBRID `PIN-UP FLAME'

Its unique, dramatic bicolor design makes `Pin-Up Flame' the first begonia to earn the prestigious AAS award. Its single, yellow 2- to 4-inch flowers are large and softly edged in varying shades of red and orange. With a height of only 10 to 12 inches, this tuberous rooted begonia is well-suited as an up-in-front bedding plant so its colorful performance can be highly visible.

MARIGOLD `BONANZA BOLERO'

Bicolor patterns and warm shades are hot this year. `Bonanza Bolero' gives all that and more. This improved dwarf French marigold offers an ever-changing design with its bright gold and flaming red petal tips. Its double flowers are more than 2 inches in size and are noted for their earliness to bloom. Plants will reach 8 to 12 inches tall with an impressive spread of 12 to 24 inches.

OSTEOSPERMUM `PASSION MIX'

Striking azure blue centers set the stage for these daisy-like flowers that bloom in warm shades of pink, rose, purple or pure white. The large 2-inch flowers produce a colorful show above the foliage. These drought-tolerant, carefree annual plants, reaching 12 to 18 inches, perform equally well in containers or gardens.

PORTULACA F1 HYBRID `SUNDIAL PEACH'

You'll want to dive into the stunningly beautiful bright coral flowers of `Sundial Peach,' the first portulaca to win the AAS Award. A profusion of 2-inch semidouble and fully double blooms provides season-long color, especially for combination planters and color bowls. These heat- and drought-tolerant plants are real winners for the full-sun garden.

TRITOMA `FLAMENCO'

A Zone 6 perennial plant that flowers from seed the first year? That's what you get with this plant, which is the first red-hot-poker (Kniphofia Uvaria) to reach the status of an AAS Award. Flower spikes in shades of creamy white, yellow, orange and red raise up to 36 inches above long, sword-like green leaves. By the way, these just may bring in hummingbirds -- that is if you haven't already used the flower spikes for cut flower arrangements.

VERBENA `QUARTZ BURGUNDY'

This early blooming annual is set off with small white eyes surrounded by a velvety display of deep red-wine petals. Its long-blooming, large umbels reach a height of 6 to 8 inches and spread to about 15 inches. This verbena has a nice spreading habit that's perfect for hanging baskets, patio containers or the garden.

ZINNIAS `PROFUSION CHERRY' AND `PROFUSION ORANGE'

It's been 10 years since AAS has bestowed its highest recognition, the Gold Medal. This award is reserved for a breeding breakthrough. This year two varieties took that honor. `Profusion Cherry' and `Profusion Orange' have set new standards for garden zinnias. Superb performance and tolerance to many foliar diseases are sure to put these zinnias in high demand. Single 2- to 3-inch early flowers are covered by fresh leaves once they mature, making deadheading a thing of the past. Both zinnias demonstrate compact, free-blooming qualities and will grow 12 to 18 inches tall with a slightly wider spread.