3 flowers, 3 vegetables win AAS awards

Since 1932, one name has been synonymous with the question "What's new in the garden?"

In that year, W. Ray Hastings, president of the Southern Seedsmen's Association of Atlanta proposed the idea of All-America Selections (AAS) as a way for home gardeners to learn which new varieties had been truly improved upon.

In the 1920s and '30s, garden editors knew little about new garden varieties and had few resources to obtain reliable information. Articles were often misleading or incorrect because seeds were not often tested before use. The "garden club" movement was in its infancy, and home, farm, seed and florist magazines all were hungry for garden news.

Hastings encouraged seed companies to set up trial grounds and cooperatively test new varieties. He also wanted them to agree to develop marketing efforts for new vegetables and flowers. He recommended a national trial-grounds network throughout North American climates where flower and vegetable varieties would be grown and assessed by skilled, impartial judges.

The seed trials would accept only new, previously unsold varieties. The AAS was founded in 1932, and the first AAS winners were announced a year later after the results were tabulated for the first trial. AAS winners have been introduced each year since, and it continues as the oldest, most established international testing organization in North America.

There is an AAS gold medal reserved for breeding breakthroughs. Gold medal awards have been rare — only given once or twice a decade. Other AAS awards recognize a flower or vegetable for significant achievements, proven to be superior to all others on the market.

For 2005, three flowers and three vegetables received the AAS designation.

Gaillardia aristata "Arizona Sun," a flower award winner, has single 3-inch flowers that are mahogany-red with bright yellow petal edges.

Like most annuals, these plants flower continuously; even the spent blooms are attractive as tufts of seed. When grown in full-sun, "Arizona Sun" is a compact plant that reaches 8 to 10 inches tall and spreads 10 to 12 inches.

Gaillardia aristata is native to the Great Plains, and most of us grow it as a perennial. "Arizona Sun" blooms exceptionally well the first year from seed and overwinters here depending upon the severity of winter. Cut "Arizona Sun" flowers for summer bouquets, or plant them to attract butterflies.