New Group of AAS Variety Winners Features First-Ever Coleus
November 26, 2019 
The first-ever coleus to be named an AAS Winner, ‘Main Street Beale Street’ is an outstanding variety exhibiting deep-red foliage that holds its color extremely well in the garden.
All-America Selections (AAS) has announced its latest group of winners, based on results from the 2019 trial season.
Each of the seven new AAS Winners was trialed throughout North America by professional, independent, volunteer judges who grew them next to comparisons that are considered best-in-class. Only those entries that performed better than the comparisons are granted the AAS award designation.
More information on each new winner, along with AAS marketing materials, can be found here. Here’s a closer look at the new group of AAS Winners for the 2020 garden season.
Coleus ‘Main Street Beale Street’ (Dümmen Orange; National)
The first-ever coleus to be named an AAS Winner, ‘Main Street Beale Street’ is an outstanding variety exhibiting deep–red foliage that holds its color extremely well in the garden. The rich color doesn’t fade, bleach, or get spotty as the season moves into late summer. The lush, bushy plant grows uniformly and does not flower until very late in the season. A unique feature of this coleus is that it can be successfully grown from full sun to full shade, making it an ideal foliage item for anywhere in the garden.
Nasturtium ‘Tip Top Rose’ (Takii Europe BV; Regional)
‘Tip Top Rose’ is a strong yet compact nasturtium with unique and showy rose- colored flowers showcased above medium green foliage. These mounded plants were more floriferous than the comparisons varieties in the AAS trials, producing a bigger and better garden show. The uniquely colored flowers are a great addition to the nasturtium family, especially since they don’t fade as they age. ‘Tip Top Rose’ makes a great winter annual in warmer climates and a spring annual in other areas, whether used in containers or in the landscape.
Pumpkin ‘Blue Prince’ (Seeds by Design; National)
‘Blue Prince’ pumpkin scored high in the areas of maturity (earlier), yield, fruit size and uniformity, color, taste, and texture. Vigorous trailing vines produce seven to nine beautiful, blue, flattened pumpkins with non-stringy, deep–orange flesh with a savory sweetness. Of all the varieties trialed, ‘Blue Prince’ was first to flower and fruit which is beneficial for gardeners with a shorter growing season. Plus, this winner has slightly better disease resistance than the comparisons.
Tomato ‘Apple Yellow’ (Gana Seed Co.; National)
This AAS Winner offers incredible garden performance, a uniquely dimpled apple-shaped fruit with a deliciously sweet citrusy taste, and firm, meaty texture. Indeterminate 5-foot tall vines produce abundantly in clusters, resulting in up to 1,000 fruits per plant. The fruits are an eye-catching, bright, lemon yellow color. Judges were excited that a non-splitting, long-holding, uniformly shaped tomato had such good eating quality.
Tomato ‘Buffalosun’ (H.M. Clause; Regional)
‘Buffalosun’ features fruit with a strong texture, higher yields, and less cracking. This indeterminate tomato should be staked for best garden performance. The unique yellow with red/orange flame coloration is beautiful on the outside and results in a nicely marbled interior. Good tasting sweet, tender flesh gives the look of an heirloom without the mushiness often associated with heirlooms. Buffalosun also exhibits late blight resistance.
Tomato ‘Chef’s Choice Bicolor’ (Seeds by Design; Regional)
The first bicolor tomato in the Chef’s Choice series produces large, 7 to 8–ounce flattened beefsteak fruits with beautiful pinkish red internal stripes within a yellow flesh. The lovely stripes extend to the base of the outer fruit skins. Gardeners will enjoy earlier maturity and more uniform fruits that hold up all season long, producing well into September.
Tomato ‘Crokini’ (H.M. Clause; Regional)
This winner has a very sweet, light acidic taste, giving it the perfect sweet/acid balance. ‘Crokini’s round fruits are small and firm with a crunchy texture and good flavor. It gets high marks for durability because fruits do not crack on the vine, yielding up to 10 to 12 fruits per cluster. ‘Crokini’ provides a lovely burst of sweetness. Overall, the yield was better than comparisons because of the in-bred late blight resistance well into September.
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