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11-18-04
All-America 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/.
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