November
2004
By
B. Rosie Lerner
Extension Consumer Horticulturist
Purdue University
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All-American Selections New Flowers and Vegetables
for 2005
If you're looking to add some new bold and beautiful colors to your garden
next season, All-America Selections (AAS) has selected some outstanding
new plants for 2005. These new cultivars have been judged superior in
their class, based on their performance in test gardens all over the country.
Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' is a dwarf perennial blanket flower that packs
loads of blossoms in its first season from seed, making it just as useful
as an annual bedding plant. Reaching just 8-10 inches tall, 'Arizona Sun'
bears 3-inch, single mahogany-red daisy-type blooms with bright-yellow
petal edges and continues to bloom all summer.
Vinca 'First Kiss Blueberry' is the first cultivar of annual vinca (Catharanthus
roseus) with violet-blue flowers. The sun-loving plants will reach about
1 foot tall with a slightly wider spread. Good for containers or the flowerbed,
'First Kiss Blueberry' should provide summer long color.
Zinnia 'Magellan Coral' is an improved selection of Z. elegans, featuring
fully double, coral-colored dahlia-flowered blooms, 5 to 6 inches across.
Despite the large blooms, the sturdy plants should not require staking.
'Magellan Coral' flowers continuously all season but covers old, spent
blooms with new foliage so that the plant requires little dead-heading.
Expect plants to reach 15 to 17 inches tall with an equal spread.
Eggplant 'Fairy Tale' yields clusters of sweet, tender, miniature white
eggplants with violet/purple stripes. Reaching only 2 1/2 feet tall, 'Fairy
Tale' was bred for container gardening but will also perform fine in more
traditional gardens. Fruits should be ready to harvest in about 50 days
from transplanting
Squash 'Bonbon' is a hybrid buttercup-type, featuring an upright, semi-bush
growth habit and early production of 6-inch fruits about 80 days from
transplanting. 'Bonbon' has sweet flavor and smooth, string-less texture.
Tomato 'Sugary' is a sweet, cherry-size tomato with a reddish-pink color
and teardrop shape. 'Sugary' can be expected to set fruit clusters throughout
the growing season, due to its vigorous, semi-determinate habit. Caging
is recommended.
AAS winners are selected from many new cultivars, based on performance
in the garden, as well as in the greenhouse. Although no plant offers
a guarantee of success in an individual garden, the AAS winners have proven
themselves worthy over a broad range of growing conditions. Try these
new selections alongside your old standbys so you'll have a means of comparison.
AAS winners should be available through local garden centers and mail-order
catalogs next spring. For more information about these and previous years'
winners, point your Web browser to http://www.all-americaselections.org/.
11-18-04
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