New ‘superior’ flowers, veggies earn coveted AAS Winner designation

You will be able to visit two local All-America Selections trial gardens next summer

All-America Selections (AAS), North America’s most well-known and respected non-profit plant trialing organization, has six new AAS winners available for the 2023 garden season.

All AAS winners are trialed throughout North America by professional, independent volunteer judges who grow new, never-before-sold entries next to comparisons that are considered best-inclass. Only those entries that have superior garden performance — better than the comparisons — are granted the AAS award designation. Canadian judges include representatives from William Dam Seeds Ltd, Vesseys Seeds and West Coast Seeds.

If you are interested in visiting the AAS trial gardens next summer, local trial gardens are at Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington and William Dam Seeds in Ancaster. Other locations are available on the AAS website, www.all-americaselections.org.

Coleus Premium Sun Coral Candy — ornamental seed winner

This is the first seed coleus to ever win the coveted AAS Winner designation. Coral Candy features unique, multicoloured foliage on a uniformly compact plant. This plant form has narrow, serrated leaves that gracefully drape down the mounded plants. AAS judges noted this variety holds its colour well, even when grown in full sun. This variety was entered into and trialed in the container trial, meaning it’s perfect for small-space gardens. Late in the season, it was observed that Coral Candy held up nicely in the fall and had almost no flowers even late in the season. Just three seeds will produce enough substance to fill a 36- to 40-centimetre container.

Colocasia Royal Hawaiian Waikiki — ornamental winner

AAS has another first: A colocasia winner. Trialed in the non-seed container trial, this beauty wowed judges with its sturdy, large glossy leaves that unfurled with a bold leaf colouration featuring pink veins and creamy white centres. Waikiki is part of the Royal Hawaiian series and produces these striking colours earlier than other variegated leaf colocasia. The deep burgundy stems produce a lush, compact plant that holds up well even in wind and rain. A beautiful way to bring a touch of the tropics to your garden, no matter where you are located.

Snapdragon DoubleShot Orange Bicolor F1 — ornamental seed winner

Hit me with your best shot … of double flowers. DoubleShot Snapdragon

Orange Bicolor is part of a new series of intermediate-height snaps perfect for the garden or as cut flowers. The stunning openfaced double flowers emerge in beautiful warm shades of orange and orange-red that transition to a dusty shade as they age. AAS judges across the country were impressed with the strong stems that produced more branches resulting in a higher flower count. These stems produced romantic flowers all season long (even in lower light conditions) that didn’t break off in strong winds. Trialed in both the inground and container trial, DoubleShot will be your new go-to snapdragon.

Tomato Zenzei F1 — edible — vegetable winner

Zenzei is an early maturing, highyielding roma tomato for gardeners in the Midwest. This regional winner, also suitable for southern Ontario gardens, produces a great yield of fleshy plum tomatoes that are perfect for canning and freezing. Neat and tidy plants produce fruits that are uniformly shaped and are easy to harvest on unique bushy yet indeterminate plants. The diseaseresistance package on this new variety will help gardeners be even more successful than before. Each fruit has good internal flesh and fewer issues such as spots and blossom end rot. Plant in full sun and provide stakes or a cage when the plant reaches the appropriate size but there is no need to prune.

Squash kabocha Sweet Jade F1 — edible — vegetable winner

This cute, single-serving-sized squash is the perfect addition to your garden for a fall harvest. Sweet Jade proved itself in the AAS trials with its high yields and good holding capability, which is great news for both home gardeners and growers. Each fruit is between 450 and 900 grams and can be used for single servings of squash, as an edible soup bowl or in any number of Asian-style dishes for which a sweet, earthy nutritious squash is typically used. Sweet Jade’s deep orange flesh is dry yet sweet and very flavourful whether roasted, baked or pureed. Time to give this sweetie a try.

Pepper jalapeno San Joaquin F1 — edible — vegetable winner

This San Joaquin jalapeno pepper will make gardening so much easier. This is a determinate jalapeno that sets most of its fruit in a short window so there is a generous (about 50 fruits per plant) number of fruits ready all at the same time. Perfect for canning, pickling and making roasted stuffed jalapenos for a crowd. But no worries if you won’t need them for a while as they hold their firmness and taste until you are ready to harvest. Judges loved the flavour of the thick-walled fruits that have just a hint of heat at 2,500 to 6,000 Scoville units. Leave them on the plant longer for a beautiful red, and still delicious, jalapeno.

Although I’m no expert when it comes to growing plants from seed, I’ve had very good results in starting and growing seeds that carry the AAS endorsement. It’s always fun to try something new to the market, along with my tried and true favourites.

I’ll be on the lookout for Snapdragon Double Shot Orange Bicolor, Coleus Premium Sun Coral Candy, and Tomato Zenzei F1, for starters — searching for seeds online sounds like a good project for a winter’s day.