Four More All-America Selections Winners Named, And Three Are Edibles

AAS Winner Geranium 'Pinto Premium White To Rose'

All-America Selections (AAS) has announced the second batch of winners for the 2013 season, joining previously named winners Canna ‘South Pacific Scarlet’ and Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit.’ As a sign of the continuing trend in the home garden market, three of the four winners are from the vegetable category. The fourth is a beautiful geranium. The winners are…

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Geranium ‘Pinto Premium White to Rose’ F1

This addition to the Pinto Premium series features and an ombre-like flower coloration of white changing to rose. Numerous 5-inch blooms are long-lasting and slightly earlier than similar varieties. AAS judges like how full and dense the plants are with well-branched stems sporting leaves with dark green zonal coloration. The 2012 trials were tough because of extreme heat, but ‘Pinto Premium White to Rose’ performed extremely well. Bred by Syngenta Flowers, Inc.

Melon ‘Melemon’ F1

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The earliness, high yield on healthy, strong plants and superior taste all contributed to ‘Melemon’ becoming an AAS winner. Judges related the taste of this melon to honeydew but with a surprising and delicious tanginess. A uniform fruit shape makes it perfect for market growers as well as home gardeners. Each personal-sized fruit has refreshing crisp flesh and a unique sweet and tart taste. Bred by Known-You Seed Co., Ltd.

Tomato, Cherry ‘Jasper’ F1

Excellent taste, a long harvest window and outstanding performance in the trials contributes to this tomato’s success. Judges liked the texture and sweetness of ‘Jasper,’ as well as the uniformity of the fruits that grow on vigorous, healthy plants. ‘Jasper’ is a high-yielding variety with fruits that stay on the vine then hold well after ripening both on the vine and post-harvest. Vigorous vines require little or no fertilization. An added bonus is high disease resistance to late blight, Fusarium races 1, 2 and early blight plus the ability to overcome weather-related stresses. Bred by Johnny’s Selected Seeds.

Watermelon ‘Harvest Moon’ F1

‘Harvest Moon’ is the first-ever hybrid, triploid, seedless watermelon to win a coveted AAS Award. Similar to the popular heirloom variety ‘Moon and Stars,’ ‘Harvest Moon’ is an improvement in that it features shorter vines that produce medium-sized fruits and sweet, crisp, pinkish-red flesh. ‘Harvest Moon’ retains the familiar dark-green rind with yellow dots, but is seedless, earlier to ripen, higher yielding and better tasting. As one judge said, “What’s not to like?” This high-value item is great for bedding plant growers as a transplant item. Bred by Seeds By Design.

Each of these winners was trialed next to two or three other similar varieties that are currently on the market. The AAS judges grew each entry. Side-by-side analysis compared growth habit, taste, disease resistance and more to determine if these were truly better than those already available to home gardeners. Only those entries with superior garden performance (and taste for the edibles) are granted the honor of an AAS Award.

Brokers and growers can purchase these varieties immediately. Consumers will find this seed for sale in the coming months from catalog companies, in seed packets, from mail order companies and websites as supply becomes available. AAS Winners will also be available as young plants in garden centers next spring.

For more information, visit the All-America Selections website.

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