Welcome to Plant Exchange Blog. It’s snowy outside, but we’re beginning to think about plants we might select for next season.
Gardeners like to choose seed and transplants from the nursery that are attractive, grow well in our region and produce flowers and produce abundantly. All-America Selections (AAS) organization has display gardens around the country and judges that send in their performance and beauty findings each year.
Heartland region display gardens, for example, send in results that include South and North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and others. All America Gardens that participate include McCrory Gardens in Brookings, SD, one at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Iowa State University Extension Master Gardeners in Des Moines, and Minnesota Landscape Arboretum among others.
These are AAS flowers of the Heartland region that are currently highlighted (photos courtesy of AAS). They include: Petunia, ‘Evening Scentsation F1’; Salvia, ‘Summer Jewel’ Lavender; Penstemon barbatus, ‘Twizzle Purple F1’, Penstemon, ‘Arabesque Red F1’:
Some gardeners refer to AAS lists from past years to provide the array of flowers they want to plant. Seed packages of participating seed companies show the AAS designation on chosen varieties. Some nurseries show this designation on transplants as well. The AAS website has their plant listing since the 1930’s. If you’d like to view the All-America Selections for yourself, this is the link: www.allamericaselections.org
Thanks for visiting Plant Exchange Blog. See you next week!
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