These 8 Plants Just Won a Major Award—Here's Why You Should Grow Them This Year
These 8 Plants Just Won a Major Award—Here’s Why Gardeners Love Them
Movie lovers have the Oscars. Gardeners have the AAS awards. The annual recognition from the esteemed non-profit All-America Selections is given to a handful of ornamental and edible plants that look or taste great (or both!) and perform exceptionally well in garden trials across the country. This year's gold medalists include an innovative little squash and a big-blooming dianthus. Meet the full lineup below, and then add them to your garden, stat.
An Adorably Mini Squash
All-America Selections
Butter Lamp's miniature size is a boon to gardeners in more ways than one. This butternut squash plant's shorter vines means it takes up less garden space and its small fruit is ready to harvest more quickly than a typical butternut squash. They take about 40-50 days to fully ripen after fruit set. Add to that its resistance to powdery mildew, heat, and pests, and you have what's sure to become your new favorite squash to grow. Each pumpkin-shaped fruit has a delicious sweet-nutty flavor and stores well.
Growing needs: Full sun, well-drained soil, and regular water. Grow as a creeping vine or along a trellis.
A Spectacularly Sturdy Sedum
All-America Selections
A great addition to the front of a border, 'Spectacular' sedum lives up to its name, both in terms of looks and performance. Started from seed, this type of sedum is a vigorous grower, forming a tidy mound with strong, flop-free stems. The clincher? Pale pink flower clusters that appear on the light green foliage in summer, slightly earlier than other sedum varieties.
Growing needs: Full sun and well-drained soil. Water regularly when plants are young; they're drought-tolerant once established.
A Big-Blooming Coreopsis
All-America Selections
'SunGlobe' coreopsis is a cheerful, high-performing plant, producing loads of flowers throughout the growing season. The golden, semi-double flowers cover the tidy, compact plant through multiple flushes from spring to fall. Plant it in the front of a border or a container wherever you need a splash of bright color.
Growing needs: Full sun, well-drained soil, and regular water.
An Eye-Catching Pole Bean
All-America Selections
'Majestic' pole bean's deep purple pods are striking, but this plant is a star in all kinds of other ways, too. The vines climb to about 6 feet tall, growing vigorously even through summer heat. After about 60 days from sowing, you'll be able to enjoy the sweet beans, whose purple color against the plant's dark green foliage makes them especially easy to spot when harvesting.
Growing needs: Full sun, well-drained soil, and regular water. Train vines up a trellis of at least 5 feet tall.
A Pesto-Perfect Basil
All-America Selections
Of the many types of basil, the classic Italian 'Treviso' variety stands out for resisting bitterness, staying tender longer, and being slow to flower even as summer heats up. Its green leaves are also less prone to oxidation than other basil cultivars. In other words, it's the perfect basil for fresh pesto all summer long. Its compact size makes it ideal for containers, too.
Growing needs: Full sun, well-drained soil, and regular water. Harvest leaves from the top to encourage bushier growth.
An Electric-Bright Dianthus
All-America Selections
With their vibrant pink color and unusual picotee pattern, the flowers of 'Supra Cherry' picotee dianthus will command attention in the garden. The plant blooms vigorously from spring through summer—no deadheading required—and holds up well through heat and drought. Plants are compact (about 12 inches tall) and the foliage is tidy, putting the focus on the blooms.
Growing needs: Full to part sun, well-drained soil, and regular water.
A Kale That Looks as Good as it Tastes
All-America Selections
Rubybor kale is a two-time gold medalist, winning the AAS award in both the ornamental and vegetable category. Its purple-tinged, uniform leaves and neat shape make it worth showing off in containers as well as raised beds in spring and fall. It's one of the most delicious kales around, too, with sweet, mild, and tender leaves.
Growing needs: Full sun, well-drained soil, and regular water.
A Cool Zinnia to Beat the Heat
All-America Selections
As summer temperatures soar, Profusion Double White zinnias visually cool down the garden, sporting bright white, fluffy double flowers up to 3 inches wide. Easy to grow from seed, the plants reach around 18 inches tall. On top of handling heat beautifully, Profusion Double White zinnias are disease-resistant and require no deadheading.
Growing needs: Full sun, well-drained soil, and regular water. Seeds can be sown directly or started indoors.
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