8. The Process, part 1
Breeder: new,
never-before-
sold variety
Comparison
Committee
To Trial
Judges
Seed
from
other
breeders
Germination,
transplant or
direct-sow
AAS office
for
processing
To be continued…
25. What’s “IN” when it comes to ornamental
& edible breeding?
Pollinator Friendly
Updated Heirlooms
Perennials as Annuals
Ornamental Edibles
Foodie Delights
Compactness
Personal Sized Fruits
Disease Resistance
Unique or New Colors
Drought and/or Heat Tolerant
Cold Tolerant
29. BASIL
HOLY
•Also known as Tulsi, this
revered basil makes a delicious
aromatic healthful tea
•Leaves and flowers have a
strong fruity, fragrance said to
combat stress
•Plants can be grown indoors
•Ocimum sanctum
30. DIGITALIS FOXLIGHT
RUBY GLOW
•Great focal point all summer
long in gardens and containers
•Blooms face outward on tall
spikes for better flower display
•Perennial continues blooming
all summer in sun or partial
shade
•Digitalis hybrida
31. LOBELIA
STARSHIP SCARLET
•Summer flowering perennial
zones 6a-10b thrives in full to
partial sun
•Produces masses of showy
flowers
•Attracts hummingbirds and
bees
•Lobelia x speciosa
32. LUPINE
AVALUNE MIX
•Sweetly scented mix of blue,
pink, white and 2 bi-colors
•Compact plants bloom in early
spring with well-packed flower
spikes
•Prized border plant for full to
part-sun gardens and mass
plantings
•Lupinus hartwegii
33. SALVIA
BLUE MARVEL
•Perennial Zones 4-10
•Largest flowers of all Salvia
nemorosa
•Upright, colorful spikes
attract pollinators early
spring through autumn
•Salvia nemorosa
34. SALVIA SUMMER
JEWEL PINK
•Dwarf sized compact plant
with prolific blooms throughout
the summer
•Bees, butterflies and
hummingbirds love the larger
flowers
•Salvia coccinea
35. SALVIA SUMMER
JEWEL RED
•Dwarf sized compact plant
with prolific blooms throughout
the summer
•Bees, butterflies and
hummingbirds love the larger
flowers
•Salvia coccinea
36. SALVIA SUMMER
JEWEL WHITE
•Dwarf sized compact plant has
a prolific bloom count
throughout the summer
•Blooms earlier than other
white salvias
•Bees, butterflies and
hummingbirds love the larger
flowers
•Salvia coccinea
38. PUMPKIN
CINDERELLA’S
CARRIAGE F1
•Winner in (SE, HL & M/SW)
•First hybrid Cinderella-type
•Robust vines produce large
25-35 pound fruits with
sweet nutty flavor
•Large trailing vine sets up
to 5-7 fruit per plant
•Powdery Mildew resistance
•Cucurbita maxima
39. TOMATO CHEF’S
CHOICE ORANGE F1
•Hybrid derived from popular
heirloom ‘Amana Orange’
•Superior taste and texture for
an early maturing orange tomato
•Intense color does not face or
discolor when cooked
•Large 5 foot tall plants are
indeterminate
•Solanum lycopersicon
40. TOMATO CHEF’S
CHOICE PINK F1
•Large yields of 12-14 ounce
pink beefsteak tomatoes
•Perfect acid to sugar balance
make it a must for any home
chef
•Multiple Disease resistances
•Harvest 110 days from
transplanting
•Solanum lycopersicum
41. TOMATO HEIRLOOM
MARRIAGE GENUWINE
•Distinctive heirloom look and
flavor
•Better garden performance
•Earlier and high yields, fewer
blemishes
•Cross between heirlooms
Costoluto Genovese and
Brandywine
•Solanum lycopersicum
42. PUMPKIN
JARRAHDALE LARGE
•Attractive extremely uniform
and large fruits
•Superb eating qualities
•Fruits weigh from 12-18
pounds
•Long shelf life
•Yield 2-3 fruits per plant
•Cucurbita maxima
46. GAURA
SPARKLE WHITE
•Perennial with exceptionally
long period of bloom
•Perfect mass planted in sunny
landscape beds or in large
containers
•Excellent heat tolerance and
more uniform flowering habit
•Gaura lindheimeri
47. PENSTEMON
ARABESQUE RED
•Heartland, Mountain/Southwest &
West/Northwest Winner
•Season-long repeat bloomer
•Superior garden vigor and flowering
•Attracts hummingbirds and butterflies
•Perennial USDA Zone 6-9
•Penstemon hartwegii
51. ARUGULA
DRAGON’S TONGUE
•Delicious, bold, spicy flavor for
salads, stir-fries, pasta dishes,
pizzas and more
•Beautiful scalloped leaves with
striking red veins and midrib
•Full-sized leaves in about 6
weeks
•Ideal for containers
•Diplotaxis tenuifolia
52. BASIL
DOLCE FRESCA
•Sweet tender leaves with
great Mediterranean taste
•Maintains an attractive
ornamental compact shape
perfect for containers,
borders or as a focal point
•Drought tolerant healthy 12-
14” plants
•Ocimum basilicum
53. CHIVES, GARLIC
GEISHA
•Mild “just-right” garlic flavor
•Vigorous perennial
•Edible ornamental with
attractive white flowers that
attract butterflies
•Great culinary herb for use in
stir-fries, soups, sauces,
infused oils or as a garnish
•Allium tuberosum
54. LETTUCE
SANDY
•Attractive Oakleaf type with
sweet tasting frilly green leaves
•Use as cut and come again
baby leaf or grow to maturity
for loose salad heads
•Exceptional disease resistance
especially to powdery mildew
•Slow to bolt
•Lactuca sativa
55. MUSTARD
GARNET RED
•Very deep red leaves right from
the first true leaf stage
•Excellent in mixes like shown in
photo
•Best planted in spring and fall
•Sow in garden or in containers
•Harvest in 40 days from sowing
seed
•Brassica japonica
56. PEA
BLUE SHELLING
•Purple pods can be eaten as
snow peas
•Lovely flowers can cover a trellis
and attract pollinators
•Plant in either spring or fall for a
wonderful multi use pea crop
•Pisum sativum
57. PEPPER
PRETTY N SWEET F1
•Harvest 1-ounce red, yellow and
orange peppers off the same
plant
•Excellent in containers, kitchen
garden or annual beds mixed
with flowers
•Harvest 105 days from sowing
seed
•Capsicum annuum
60. BASIL
PERSIAN
•HL, M/SW, W/NW Winner
•Large, vigorous organic plant
•Pleasant tasting leaves
•Great ornamental plant
•Late to produce flowers
•Attracts bees to your garden
•Ocimum basilicum
61. BEET
AVALANCHE
•Excellent eating quality with
mild sweet taste
•Attractive uniform root shape
•Easy and quick to grow
•In just 50 days you can have
delicious white beets
•Sow in early spring/late
summer in well-drained soil
•Beta vulgaris
62. BROCCOLI ARTWORK
F1
•Unique beautiful dark green
stem broccoli
•Easy-to-harvest tender and
tasty side shoots continue to
appear long into the season
•Harvest 10-20 stems per plant
•Bolt tolerant
•Brassica oleracea Italica
63. BRUSSELS SPROUTS
HESTIA F1
•AAS Regional Winner (SE,
M/SW)
•Erect plant maintains nice habit
•Up to 100 sprouts per plant
•Harvest 100 days from
transplant
•Flavor improves when
temperatures dip into the 30’s
•Brassica oleracea
64. CUCAMELON
MOUSE MELON
•Mexican Sour Gherkin
•Fruits taste similar to
cucumbers with a hint of
tartness
•May be eaten fresh or pickled
•Can be grown on a trellis, in a
container or hanging basket
•Melothria scabra
65. PAK CHOI
BOPAK F1
•Northeast, Great Lakes,
Mountain/Southwest
•Tender leaves and crisp sweet
stalks taste great raw or cooked
•Classy 8-inch plant makes an
attractive “thriller” for patio pots
•Early - 60 days from sowing
seed
•Brassica rapa chinensis
66. PEA PARSLEY
PEA GARNISH
•Specially bred for its leafy
tendrils
•Bold-beautiful tendrils for
garnish/salads
•Harvest a few days after
tendrils form
•Don’t allow to over mature
•Pisum sativum
67. PEPPER
HOT SUNSET
•Delicious and spicy (650
Scoville units) wax pepper
•Prolific and earlier harvest
of fruits 7.25 x 1.5 inches
•15-20 fruits per plant
•Disease resistance to
Xanthomonas Campestris
Race 1-3 (X3R), and
Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus
•Capsicum annuum
68. PEPPER
SWEET SUNSET
•SE, HL, W/NW Winner
•Sweet banana pepper
•High yielding X3R variety
•Colorful tasty peppers ripen
from light yellow to red
•Harvest 2 ounce fruit 85-90
days from transplanting
•Resistant to Xanthomonas
campestris races 1-3 (X3R)
•Capsicum annuum
69. PEPPER
GIANT RISTRA
•Mountain/Southwest Winner
•Bright red very hot 7-inch chile
pepper can be strung and displayed
throughout the winter
•Enjoy fresh, roasted or dried and
used as an herb
•Harvest 110 days from sowing seed
•Resistant to Tobacco mosaic virus
•Capsicum annuum
70. PEPPER TASTY
HABANERO SABROSO
•Tasty heat! Between 250,000-
350,000 Scoville heat units
•1-2” fruit ripens to a brilliant
orange at 85-95 days on plants
32” tall
•Can be used in salsa, chili, or
dried and crushed for dish
toppings
•Capsicum annuum
73. BEAN
MASCOTTE F1
•Dwarf French extra fine bean
•Adapted for window boxes and
pots as well as the garden
•Straight, long, round and
delicately crisp string-less pods
•High disease resistance to
Bean Mosaic Virus, anthranosis
& Pseudomonas
•Phaseolus vulgaris
74. CUCUMBER
PICK A BUSHEL F1
•Heartland and Great Lakes Winner
•Pickling cucumber which can be
harvested at the gherkin or spear
stage and processed
•Also enjoy fresh in salads and slaws
•Semi-bush plants can be planted in
the garden or in patio containers
•Heat tolerant, large yields
•Cucumis sativus
75. CRAPE MYRTLE
MIDNIGHT MAGIC
•Compact variety 4-6’ tall/wide
•Superb purple-maroon foliage
•Dark pink flowers July-
September
•Full sun perennial to Zone 6
•Resistant to Cercospora leaf
spot and powdery mildew
•Lagerstroemia indica
76. DISTYLIUM
LINEBACKER
•Compact upright evergreen
matures to an excellent
screening and hedge plant
•Reddish new growth matures to
lustrous dark green
•Full sun to moderate shade
perennial Zone 7 with excellent
disease resistance
•Distylium myricoides
77. GERANIUM
NANO VIOLET F1
•New vibrant violet color to
Nano series
•Continuously produces large
clusters of flowers abundantly
all season
•Compact habit ideal for
containers and window boxes
•Dark handsome petite foliage
•Pelargonium hortorum
79. PRIMULA DANESSA
•Earliest flowering acaulis
•Diminutive 2-3 inch plant
blooms in early spring
•Maintains a compact habit
•Can also be enjoyed as a
houseplant
•Available in 9 colors
•Primula acaulis
82. •Northeast Region Winner
•Harvest fruits at baby size
at 2 to 3 inches
•Compact habit makes it
great for containers
•Thornless leaves allow for
painless harvesting and
make it child-friendly too
•Solanum melongena
EGGPLANT
PATIO BABY F1
83. PUMPKIN
CINNAMON GIRL
PMR F1
•Beautiful ornamental with
excellent eating quality
•Short vines produce 3-4 fruits
per plant
•Pumpkins average 3-6 pounds
•Moderate resistance to
powdery mildew
•Cucurbita pepo
84. PUMPKIN
KANDY KORN PLUS
•Small but mighty!
•Attractive 1-pound fruit with
handles sturdy enough for kids
to carry around
•Bushy plants show
intermediate resistance to
powdery mildew
•Early maturing (85 days)
•Cucurbita pepo
90. Cucumber Persian
Gherkin F1
•Northeast, M/SW Winner
•Crisp sweet flavored pickling
cucumber which processes well
•Pick at midget or gherkin size
•Enjoy fresh in salads and slaws
•Can be planted in staked patio
container or in the garden
•Organic and disease resistant
•Cucumis sativus
91. Tomato
Fantastico F1
•Very flavorful unique determinate
bush tomato
•Each plant produces up to 12
pounds – about 350 glossy red ½
ounce grape shaped fruit
•Can be grown in an 18” hanging
basket or large patio container
•Resists cracking
•Solanum lycopersicum
92. Tomato
Mountain Merit F1
•Heartland Regional Winner
•All-around tomato perfect for
slicing and sandwiches
•Dark red fruits grow on a
compact uniform plant
•Good resistance to multiple
diseases common to home
grown tomatoes
•Solanum lycopersicum
93. IMPATIENS BOUNCE
PINK FLAME
•Highly resistant to Downy Mildew
•Strong-performer for shade and
sun gardens spring through fall
•Massive amount of stunning
blooms
•Shorter and compact, ideal for
hanging baskets or patio pots
•Impatiens hybrida
94. SUNPATIENS ®
SPREADING
SHELL PINK
•Truly unique genetic
background delivers
unsurpassed performance
•Vigorous spreading plants
keep their shape all summer
•Thrives under high heat, rain
and humidity in full sun as well
as shade
•Impatiens x hybrida hort
96. CANNA CANNOVA
YELLOW
•Sun loving annual 30-48 inches
tall blooms from late spring to
late summer
•Cannova series includes
Bronze Scarlet, Red Shades
and Rose
•Canna generalis
97. DAHLIA
XXL SUNSET
•Boasts huge 4-inch bicolor
blooms
•Striking color pattern and
colors
•Blooms late spring to frost
•Dahlia grandiflora
98. PETUNIA EASY WAVE
VELOUR BURGUNDY
•Vigorous, mounding spreading
habit
•Prolific 2.5”-3” blooms cover
the plants
•Flowers have a special sheen
that offers a three dimensional
appearance
•Petunia hybrida
99. PETUNIA TIDAL WAVE
VELOUR RED
•Spreading petunia with deep,
dark texture and fashion-forward
color
•Perfect patio centerpiece display
or trailing from hanging baskets
•Give it sun and feed it regularly
for lush vigorous blooms through
the summer
•Petunia hybrida
100. SCAEVOLA SURDIVA
VARIEGATED BLUE
•First scaevola with variegated
foliage
•Extremely heat tolerant plant
provides continuous color all
summer
•Tidy compact appearance and
exceptional flower coverage
•Scaevola aemula
101. Squash
Bossa Nova F1
•Summer squash with a
beautiful pronounced
mottled exterior
•Smooth flesh texture and
sweeter, mild taste
•Compact plants produce
fruits earlier in the season
•Long and prolific harvest
•Cucurbita pepo
102. ZINNIA
ZINDERELLA PEACH
•Shades of salmon, peach,
pink and cream accented with
a dark eye
•Striking scabiosa-shaped
blooms with full mounded tops
•Excellent as cut flower, very
easy to grow, and disease
resistant
•Zinnia elegans
105. AGASTACHE ARIZONA
SANDSTONE, SUN AND SUNSET
•First year flowering, drought tolerant perennial hardy to zone 6
•Abundant flower spikes loaded with blooms
•Agastache x hybrida
106. ANGELONIA
SERENITA PINK F1
•Elegant yet tough plants with
long-lasting color
•Compact, shorter plant height
8-12”
•Tolerant to heat and dry
conditions
•Performs best in full to part
sun
•Angelonia angustifolia
107. Dianthus Interspecific
Jolt Pink F1
•Large brightly colored showy
flower heads on strong stems
•Performs extremely well all
summer long
•Easy to grow and trouble-free
•Neat and tidy low-maintenance
annual flower
•Dianthus barbatus interspecific
108. LOBULARIA
YOLO WHITE
•Great heat tolerance makes it
a wise choice from early spring
until frost
•Adds fragrance and clear
white color to mixed plantings,
containers and baskets
•Gorgeous groundcover
•Lobularia maritima
109. GERANIUM
BIG EZEE RED
•Bred for the heat
•Vigorous grower loaded with
huge 3” bright red flowers
•Perfect in mixed plantings, and
also stands strong on its own
•Blooms late spring to frost
•Pelargonium x hortorum
110. PETUNIA
TRILOGY RED F1
•New vibrant rich red color
addition to the series
•Compact dome-shaped habit
sports large non-fading blooms
all season long
•Upright blooms provide a
constant mass of color in beds,
baskets and containers
•Petunia x atkinsiana
111. VERBENA ENDURASCAPE
HOT PINK
•Tougher verbena - hardy in frost
conditions and doesn’t cycle out
of flower in the heat
•Perennial great for hillsides,
ground covers and retaining walls
•Excellent powdery mildew
resistance
•Verbena hybrida
112. VIOLA
COLORMAX
•Giant flowers fill out
containers with tremendous
color in spring and fall
•Perfect for pots, baskets and
containers
•Heat tolerant
•Available in 10 colors
•Viola hybrid
113. VIOLA
CORINA BLACK F1
•Novelty black-flowered viola
6-8” tall spreading 10-12” wide
•Very frost tolerant so ideal for
early spring and fall plantings
•More heat tolerant, so lasts
longer into the warmer time of
the year
•Viola cornuta
116. DIANTHUS DIANA CRIMSON
PICOTEE IMPROVED
•Great for early spring & fall
gardens; plants tolerate light
freezes
•Full sun to partial sun locations
•Showy bi-color blooms
dominate the vigorous low
growing plants 8-10” tall
•Excellent for mixed containers
•Dianthus chinensis
117. PANSY COOL WAVE
SUNSHINE ’N WINE
•Vigorous spreading pansy
•Adds dramatic color to spring,
late summer, and autumn patios
& pots
•Great in combos and as a
groundcover
•Biennial to Zone 5 with superior
overwintering hardiness
•Viola wittrockiana
118. PERICALLIS
SENETTI BLUE EYE
•Thrives in lower temperatures
•Large, daisy-like flowers
provide high-impact color in
early spring
•12 bright colors
•Full sun to part shade annual
•Cut plants back 50% for a
fresh flush of blooms
•Pericallis hybrida
119. ROSE
ABOVE AND BEYOND
•New large-flowered climber is
for colder climates to zone 3
•Clusters of 5 or more buds
open as semi-double to double
flowers
•Dependable climber or free-
standing shrub in colder regions
•Prolific flowering
•Very resistant to fungal
diseases
In 1932, the idea of All-America Selections for testing and evaluating new varieties of flowers and vegetables was started by Ray Hastings, a prominent seedsman who was ending his term as president of the Southern Seedsmen’s Association. He created National network of two types of trials: Flowers and Vegetables
Standardized evaluations and scoring
Incentives for breeders
Independent, unbiased testing
Pictured: Harry A. Joy, an All-America Selections flower judge, and W. Ray Hastings, chairman, inspecting the AAS trials at the “Oakview” station of Ferry-Morse Seed Co., Rochester, Michigan. July 1941
Mention similar programs abroad
Mention similar programs abroad—40 years and 20 trial grounds
Michigan Bedding Plant trial
Kansas State Olathe—Judge Cary Rivard
Magazines: trade and consumer
Website—show tab for trial grounds and signs and brochures