All-America Selections winners feature the best performing of new flowers, bedding plants and vegetables each year.

Pretty N Sweet pepper has potential for both ornamental and vegetable gardens. (Photo courtesy of All-America Selections)

Summer Jewel White salvia is a new color addition to this popular series. (Photo courtesy of All-America Selections)

News Release Distributed 01/02/15

By Allen Owings
LSU AgCenter horticulturist

HAMMOND, La. – Eight vegetables and four flowers have been named All-America Selection (AAS) winners for the 2015 gardening season. Each year, the best of the best in new flowers, bedding plants and vegetables receive this national recognition.

Flower winners are Summer Jewel White salvia, Bounce Pink Flame and SunPatiens Spreading Shell Pink impatiens, and Trilogy Red petunia.

Summer Jewel White salvia is the third color in the popular Summer Jewel series. White brings a much-needed color to compact salvias. This dwarf-sized, compact plant has a prolific bloom count throughout the summer.

Bounce Pink Flame impatiens is one of the colors in this new series of downy mildew-resistant impatiens. The Bounce looks like an Impatiens walleriana in habit, flower form and count. This variety will last in the landscape from spring planting until first frost.

The SunPatiens Spreading Shell Pink impatiens delivers unsurpassed garden performance with season-long, soft pink flowers that never slow down. SunPatiens are great performers in Louisiana and, as the name implies, can be planted in full sun.

The Trilogy petunia series has a new color with this stunningly rich, vibrant red version. Trilogy Red petunias are known for their compact, dome-shaped habit, sporting large, non-fading blooms throughout the season. These petunias do well in Louisiana and have been reliable performers when planted in spring or fall at the trial gardens at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station.

Vegetable winners named by AAS for 2015 are Dolce Fresca basil, Sandy lettuce, Emerald Fire pepper, Flaming Flare pepper, Pretty N Sweet pepper, Roxanne radish, Bossa Nova squash and Butterscotch squash.

Dolce Fresca produces sweet, tender leaves that outshine the comparison varieties while maintaining an attractive, compact shape that’s both versatile and beautiful.

The first AAS-winning lettuce since 1985, Sandy lettuce is an attractive oakleaf-type lettuce with a multitude of sweet-tasting, frilly, dark green leaves. Not just pretty and tasty, Sandy has exceptional disease resistance, especially to powdery mildew, and is slow to bolt.

Emerald Fire pepper is a grill master’s delight. At 2,500 Scoville units, this is the hottest pepper in this year’s pepper winners, but it boasts extra-large and very tasty jalapeno fruits that are perfect for stuffing, grilling or using in salsa.

Flaming Flare is an early-maturing hybrid Fresno pepper that sets a large amount of concentrated fruit. This high-yielding variety produces mild peppers that are brilliant red in color when mature. It is ideal for making chili sauces.

Pretty N Sweet is a sweet-tasting, multi-colored pepper on a compact 18-inch plant that is attractive to use in ornamental gardens and containers.

Roxanne is a hybrid radish with uniform, bright red color and a beautiful creamy white interior. Roxanne is a great-tasting radish with no pithiness or bleeding, even at a larger size.

Bossa Nova is a beautiful dark and light green mottled exterior zucchini-type squash. Its color is more pronounced than other varieties on the market, which sets it apart and makes the fruits easier to see during a long and prolific harvest.

Butterscotch is a small-fruited butternut squash with an exceptionally sweet taste perfect for just one or two servings.

You can see more information on the 2015 winners and also research past winners at www.all-americaselections.org.

The LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station evaluates many new and exciting flowers each season, including past and potential future All-America Selections winners. The LSU AgCenter’s award-winning official AAS display garden, which includes the flower, bedding plant and vegetable evaluations, is located at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden in Baton Rouge.

You can see more about work being done in landscape horticulture by visiting the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station website. Also, like us on Facebook. You can find an abundance of landscape information for both home gardeners and industry professionals at both sites.