Nov 21, 2023

Eight New Varieties Recently Approved as AAS Winners for 2024 Eight New Varieties Recently Approved as AAS Winners for 2024 All-America Selections (AAS), North America’s most well-known and respected non-profit plant trialing organization has eight new AAS Winners available for 2024. Brokers, growers and retailers will want to add these proven garden performers to their assortments. Breeder sales contacts are included below each winner’s description. 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-in-class. Only those entries that have superior garden performance, better than the comparisons, are granted the AAS award designation. The newest AAS Winners for 2024 are: Garden communicators are free to begin writing about these varieties now. Each of the newer AAS Winners will soon be featured in custom videos on the AAS YouTube channel . All AAS Winners are marketed through social media, public relations and trade shows and are proudly grown in AAS Display and Introduction Gardens across North America. In addition, the AAS office creates and maintains a wide variety of marketing pieces and resources such as: National Winner This purple broccoli is magical! How else do you explain a broccoli that has it all? From its beautiful purple color, tight uniform heads and bright beads to its great broccoli flavor, this easy to grow broccoli is also stress and heat tolerant. A showstopper. “Wicked good! Nicest purple broccoli we’ve ever seen” exclaimed one very experienced edible judge. Excellent broccoli to try growing in cooler seasons. Can be eaten raw, stir-fried, roasted, lightly blanched, or steamed for the best texture, either way, you will find it sweeter and more tender than traditional green broccoli. Regional Winner – West/Northwest Skytree broccoli is a towering AAS Winner that will take your garden and your taste buds to new heights. Its upright stems make it easy to harvest, and its deliciously tender stems and florets are sure to please even the most discerning broccoli lover. One judge declared, “A truly fresh punch of wonderful broccoli deliciousness!” Skytree broccoli is very versatile and can be steamed, roasted, stir-fried and eaten raw. No matter how you choose to enjoy it, Skytree broccoli is sure to be a hit with your family and friends. So, reach for the sky and plant some Skytree broccoli in your garden today! National Winner Burning Embers is a new celosia bred for its gorgeous bronze foliage with dark pink veins that contrast nicely with the vibrant pink flower plumes. Plants are well branched and produce more flowers over a longer bloom time. Numerous AAS Judges commented that this entry had the largest and longest lasting flowers of all the celosia varieties they trialed. Plus, Burning Embers does very well in both heat and humidity while remaining completely covered with blooms that withstood the test of time. Bred by Clover Seed Company National Winner The Big EEZE geranium series is known for its superior container performance, medium vigor, and heat tolerance. The newest addition to the series, Pink Batik, is an AAS National Winner that is sure to impress gardeners with its unique coloration and minimal maintenance requirements. Batiking is known for being a labor-intensive way to produce beautiful colorations on fabric but this new geranium is a super “EEZE” way to get stunning petal colors on a very floriferous plant with very little effort needed. Says one judge: “The combined flower output of all our entry plants totaled well over 100 blooms and each one was the same size with an equal amount of pink and white striations.” That sounds like multiple-winner qualities! National Winner Solarscape seed-propagated impatiens provide unbeatable color in full or partial-sun garden areas. Durable Solarscape outperformed the comparison varieties and because it is grown from seed, gives you more options for starting impatiens at home. Vibrant pink satiny blooms cover the mounded plants non-stop all season, adding a bright and pleasing tropical appeal to the garden. Solarscape XL Pink Jewel has superior disease resistance, especially to the dreaded impatiens downy mildew. Looks great when massed in beds and borders and since it was trialed in both containers and in-ground, we know it does well in both. Try Solarscape for a showy display in your garden! *Seed is available immediately in North America. Seed will be available for sale outside of North America on April 1, 2024. Regional Winner: Great Lakes and West/Northwest The versatile SureShot petunias are garden gladiators that can withstand any bizarre weather conditions. Whether you plant them in garden beds, containers, or hanging baskets, these beauties will thrive, come rain or shine, heat or cold. Their vibrant white blooms cover the plants, attracting bees and other pollinators to their lightly fragrant blossoms. SureShots are a “sure bet” for any garden, and they’re sure to turn heads with their stunning display of color. If you’re looking for a petunia that can handle anything your garden throws at it, then SureShots are the perfect choice for you. Plant them today and watch as they transform your garden into a show-stopping oasis!