All-America Selections Announces Its Nine Winners For The 2016 Gardening Season
November 10, 2015 
Geranium ‘Brocade Cherry Night’
Nine new plants trialed by horticulture experts throughout North America this year were deemed worthy of the All-America Selections brand.
All of these new varieties were trialed during the 2015 growing season and exhibited outstanding garden performance.
The AAS Winners for 2016 include:
• Geranium ‘Brocade Cherry Night’ (National)
• Geranium ‘Brocade Fire’ (National)
• Pepper ‘Cornito Giallo F1’ (National)
• Pepper ‘Escamillo F1’ (National)
• Pumpkin ‘Super Moon F1’ (Regional: Southeast and Great Lakes)
• Salvia ‘Summer Jewel Lavender’ (Regional: Southeast, Heartland, Great Lakes)
• Strawberry ‘Delizz F1’ (National)
• Tomato ‘Candyland Red’ (National)
• Tomato ‘Chef’s Choice Green F1’ (National)
With the announcement, these varieties become available for immediate sale to the commercial market. Brokers and growers can purchase them immediately, and retailers and consumers will find them for sale for the 2016 gardening season as supply gradually becomes available throughout the chain of distribution. Garden communicators are free to begin writing about these varieties now, in preparation for next year’s gardens.
Check out a complete list of trial grounds and the judges behind the awards, as well as a complete list of all AAS Winners since 1932.
Geranium ‘Brocade Cherry Night’: AAS 2016 Ornamental Vegetative Winner & National Winner
Striking foliage with large double blooms of cherry pink make geranium ‘Brocade Cherry Night’ an AAS Winner this year. Gardeners looking for unique and distinct foliage to accent their containers and gardens will be delighted with ‘Brocade Cherry Night.’ The bronze leaves with green margins are a remarkable and unusual addition to any design. Add the double bright cherry blooms and this heat-tolerant geranium is your winner for any planter, container or garden.
• Bred by Dümmen Orange
• Genus species: Pelargonium hortorum
• Common name: Geranium
• Unique qualities: Novelty geranium prized for its bright foliage. The shiny bronze foliage looks great in the shade or in contrast with green-leaved plants.
• Flower color: Cherry Pink
• Foliage color: Shiny bronze with green margin
• Flower size: 5 inch
• Plant height: 16 inches
• Plant type: Annual
• Garden location: Full sun to shade in well-drained soil
• Garden spacing: 16 inches
• Closest comparisons on market: ‘Mrs. Pollack,’ ‘Vancouver Centennial’
Geranium ‘Brocade Fire’: AAS 2016 Ornamental Vegetative Winner & National Winner
Geranium ‘Brocade Fire’ has unique bi-color foliage with a nonstop display of orange flowers that gives it an exceptional look in any garden. Geranium ‘Brocade Fire’ is ideal for combination planters, landscapes and garden beds. This robust plant keeps its distinguishing foliage color and brilliant blooms throughout the hot summer, then becomes a transitional flower going into fall. The orange flowers contrast with the striking foliage, making this geranium a much-appreciated and talked-about new annual winner.
• Bred by Dümmen Orange
• Genus species: Pelargonium hortorum
• Common name: Geranium
• Unique qualities: Novelty geranium prized for its bright foliage. The lime-green foliage looks great in the shade or in contrast with dark-leaved plants.
• Flower color: Orange
• Foliage color: Chartreuse and Bronze with zoning
• Flower size: 5 inch
• Plant height: 16 inches
• Plant type: Annual
• Garden location: Full sun to shade in well-drained soil
• Garden spacing: 16 inches
• Closest comparisons on market: ‘Mrs. Pollack,’ ‘Vancouver Centennial’
Pepper ‘Cornito Giallo F1’: AAS 2016 Edible Winner & National Winner
Starting as small green fruits, this AAS Winner develops into bright-yellow jewels with a delicious sweet and fruity flavor. The peppers themselves are plentiful and durable, yet easy to eat fresh. Being an early bloomer, you will be able to enjoy these peppers throughout the growing season and well into the fall.
• Bred by Johnny’s Selected Seeds
• Genus species: Capsicum annuum
• Common name: Pepper
• Fruit flavor: Sweet Italian frying pepper with outstanding flavor raw, cooked and fire-roasted
• Fruit size: 6 inch x 2 inch
• Fruit shape: Cone
• Fruit color: Yellow
• Plant color: Green
• Plant type: Annual
• Plant height: 24 to 36 inches
• Plant habit: Upright
• Garden location: Full sun
• Garden spacing: 18 inches
• Length of time to harvest: 75 days from transplant
• Closest comparisons on market: ‘Yellow Crest F1,’ ‘Mama Mia Giallo F1’
Pepper ‘Escamillo F1’: AAS 2016 Edible Winner & National Winner
A wonderful sweet taste on a golden yellow pepper makes pepper ‘Escamillo F1’ one of the 2016 AAS Winners. An early bearing pepper plant with a compact habit makes it an ideal choice for any home garden. Gardeners will be captivated with the high yield of peppers per plant and how the fruit itself is held off the ground for easy picking and less rotting. This plant is a winner with its all-around qualities of excellent taste either raw, cooked or fire roasted, its compact size and high yield.
Bred by Johnny’s Selected Seeds
• Genus species: Capsicum annuum
• Common name: Pepper
• Fruit flavor: Sweet Italian frying pepper with outstanding flavor raw, cooked and fire-roasted
• Fruit size: 8 inches x 2.5 inches
• Fruit shape: Cone
• Fruit color: Yellow
• Plant color: Green
• Plant type: Annual
• Plant height: 36 inches
• Plant habit: Upright
• Garden location: Full sun
• Garden spacing: 18 inches
• Length of time to harvest: 77 days from transplant
• Closest comparisons on market: ‘Mama Mia Giallo F1,’ ‘Big Daddy F1’
Pumpkin ‘Super Moon F1’: AAS 2016 Edible Winner & Regional Winner, Great Lakes and Southeast
The first-ever white pumpkin AAS regional winner, ‘Super Moon F1’ has eye-appealing ghostly white coloration on the large, blemish-free round pumpkins. Grown for their size (up to 50 pounds) and their clean white color, these hardy plants are known for their early fruit development and vigorous growth. Their stems are tough, hardy, disease-resistant and unstoppable. When done decorating, consider trying the yellow flesh for roasting or in your fall harvest soups.
• Bred by Seeds By Design Inc.
• Genus species: Cucurbita maxima
• Common name: Pumpkin
• Fruit flavor: Pale yellow flesh that can be eaten or baked
• Fruit size: 15 to 18 inches
• Fruit shape: Round, slightly elongated large
• Fruit color: White
• Plant color: Dark Green
• Plant type: Annual
• Plant height: 15 to 16 inches
• Plant habit: Requires space for large trailing vines
• Garden location: Full sun
• Garden spacing: 2 to 3 feet
• Length of time to harvest: 90 days from sowing seed
• Closest comparisons on market: ‘Polar Bear F1,’ ‘New Moon F1’
Salvia ‘Summer Jewel Lavender’: AAS 2016 Ornamental Seed Winner & Regional Winner, Southeast, Heartland, Great Lakes
The fourth AAS Winner in the Summer Jewel series of salvia winners is the newest in color, ‘Summer Jewel Lavender.’ The unique flower color of dusty lavender purple is a delight in the garden and flower containers as well as a major attractor of pollinators including bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. An extra bonus is how much the goldfinch loves these flower seeds in the fall. The early blooming, stable, compact uniform growth, and continuous flowering of this plant are additional positives to this plant.
• Bred by Takii & Co. Ltd
• Genus species: Salvia coccinea
• Common name: Texas Sage
• Unique qualities: Flowers very early and continues blooming until frost. Plants stay compact at no more than 18 inches when mature. ‘Summer Jewel Lavender’ is the first lavender-colored form of Salvia coccinea.
• Flower color: Lavender
• Foliage color: Green
• Flower size: 0.5 inch
• Plant height: 10 to 18 inches
• Plant type: Annual
• Garden location: Full sun in well drained soil
• Garden spacing: 10 to 12 inches
• Closest comparisons on market: ‘Summer Jewel Pink’
Strawberry ‘Delizz F1’: AAS 2016 Edible Winner & National Winner
These vigorous strawberry plants are easy to grow, from seed or transplant, and produce an abundant harvest throughout the growing season. The best part is the wonderful sweet strawberry burst of flavor from every handpicked berry. These plants have a nice uniform and compact size, making them perfect for containers, hanging baskets or garden plots.
• Bred by ABZ Seeds
• Genus species: Fragaria x ananassa
• Common name: Strawberry
• Fruit flavor: Sweet, aromatic
• Fruit size: 1.5 inches
• Fruit shape: Conical
• Fruit color: Orange
• Plant color: Dark green
• Plant type: Annual
• Plant height: 14 inches
• Plant habit: Compact, upright
• Garden location: Full sun
• Garden spacing: 20 inches
• Length of time to harvest: 120 days from sowing seed, 60 days from transplant
• Closest comparisons on market: ‘Sarian,’ ‘Loran’
Tomato ‘Candyland Red’: AAS 2016 Edible Winner & National Winner
Tomato ‘Candyland Red’ is the only AAS award-winning currant-type tomato. Currant tomatoes are smaller in size than cherry-type and are ready to pop in your mouth straight from the garden. Gardeners will appreciate the dark-red, sweet flavored fruit that can be enjoyed throughout the season. The tomato plant itself has a nice tidier habit than other currant-type plants with the fruit tending to form on the outside of the plant, making them easier to harvest.
• Bred by PanAmerican Seed Company
• Genus species: Solanum lycopersicum
• Common name: Currant tomato
• Fruit taste: Sweet and rich
• Fruit size: 0.5 inches
• Fruit shape: Round currant
• Fruit color: Red
• Plant height: 5 to 7 feet
• Plant width/spread: 3 to 4 feet
• Plant habit: Requires staking, indeterminate
• Garden location: Full sun
• Garden spacing: 2 to 4 feet
• Number of fruits: Hundreds
• Length of time to harvest: 95 days from seed, 55 days from transplant
• Closest comparisons on market: ‘Sweet Pea,’ ‘Matt’s Wild Cherry’
Tomato ‘Chef’s Choice Green F1’: AAS 2016 Edible Winner & National Winner
The newest addition to the Chef’s Choice series produces beautiful green-colored fruits with subtle yellow stripes and a wonderful citrus-like flavor and perfect tomato texture. You’ll enjoy this disease-free plant throughout the season with its dark-green leaves and well-behaved form.
• Bred by Seeds By Design Inc.
• Genus species: Solanum lycopersicum
• Common name: Tomato
• Fruit taste: Sweet and tangy
• Fruit size: 6 to 7 inches
• Fruit shape: Flattened deep globe
• Fruit color: Green
• Plant height: 4 to 5 feet
• Plant width/spread: 24 inches
• Plant habit: Indeterminate – requires staking
• Garden location: Full sun
• Garden spacing: 18 to 20 inches
• Number of fruits: 30 plus
• Length of time to harvest: 90 days from transplant
• Closest comparisons on market: ‘Fried Green F1,’ ‘Aunt Ruby’s Green’
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