Nov 24, 2014

AAS Expands Program with Vegetatively Propagated Flowers

Earlier this month, All-America Selections announced its winners for the 2015 season. After more than 80 years trialing only seed-propagated varieties, AAS began trialing vegetatively propagated varieties early this year. Along with the ten seed winners, the two inaugural vegetative winners are: impatiens ‘SunPatiens Spreading Shell Pink’ and impatiens ‘Bounce Pink Flame’.

So if you’re still deciding which new varieties to add to your production for next spring, check out these top performers. These honored varieties impressed judges with their earliness to bloom, disease and pest tolerance, novel colors and overall appearance. All AAS winners are available now for immediate sale to growers and brokers, and consumers will find these varieties at retail next spring.

Here are the 2015 AAS winners in the flower category (I’ll go over vegetable winners next time):

SEED PROPAGATED

Petunia ‘Trilogy Red’ (Takii)

The Trilogy series has a new color with this rich, vibrant red. Trilogy petunias are known for their compact, dome-shaped habit and large non-fading blooms throughout the season. The plants cover and recover themselves in upright blooms providing a constant mass of color in beds, baskets and containers.

Salvia ‘Summer Jewel White’ (Takii)

‘Summer Jewel White’ is the third color in this popular series. This dwarf-sized, compact plant has a prolific bloom count throughout the summer. As a bonus, blooms appear almost two weeks earlier than other white salvias. Judges noted how the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds loved the larger flowers.

VEGETATIVELY PROPAGATED

Impatiens ‘Bounce Pink Flame’ (Selecta)

Bounce impatiens were bred to provide gardeners with shade confidence. Bounce appears like an Impatiens walleriana in habit, flower form and count but is completely downy mildew resistant, which means it will last from spring through fall. ‘Bounce Pink Flame’ brightens the garden with a massive amount of bright pink bicolor blooms.

Impatiens ‘SunPatiens Spreading Shell Pink’ (Sakata)

‘SunPatiens Spreading Shell Pink’ delivers season-long garden performance with soft pink flowers that never slow down. Strong roots take hold quickly after transplant, and these impatiens thrive in high heat, humidity and rain. AAS judges loved these vigorous spreading plants that kept their shape all summer.

Are you already growing any of these AAS winners, or do you plan to add them to your production for 2015? Do you grow any past AAS winners? Which ones? Shoot me an e-mail at jdolce@greatamericanpublish.com, and let me know!

To learn more about these varieties, see additional photos and read up on growing guidelines, go to www.all-americaselections.org/winners.

– Jasmina