2010 AAS winners named

Four plants have been named 2010 All-America Selections winners. Gaillaradia F1 'Mesa Yellow' is the Flower Award Winner. Snapdragon F1 'Twinny Peach'  and Zinnia 'Zahara Starlight Rose' are Bedding Plant Award Winners. And Viola F1 ‘Endurio Sky Blue Martien’ is the Cool Season Award Winner.

Here is a look at what the latest AAS honorees have to offer:

Gaillardia F1 ‘Mesa Yellow’
AAS Flower Award Winner

‘Mesa Yellow’ is the first hybrid blanket flower with a controlled plant habit and prolific flowering. The 3-inch daisy like flowers and globe shaped seed heads offer a superior presentation of color which continues throughout the summer. Gardeners will be glad to know they can cut the blooms for casual bouquets. The flowers, when left on the plants, will attract butterflies. Judges noted the improved plant habit of ‘Mesa Yellow’ with mature plants reaching 20 to 22 inches in a full sun garden location. The neat, mounded plants are adaptable to smaller space gardens or any type of containers. When planted near the inside edge of the container, they will cascade down the container. They are relatively maintenance free. ‘Mesa Yellow’ plants proved to be wind and rain resistant, meaning the plants recover quickly from severe weather. ‘Mesa Yellow’ was bred by PanAmerican Seed Company and blooms two to three weeks earlier than comparisons.

Snapdragon F1 ‘Twinny Peach’
AAS Bedding Plant Award Winner

Who took the snap out of Snapdragon? ‘Twinny Peach’ the AAS Winner, is a snapdragon without the snap. Why? Because it is a double or butterfly flower form that does not have the jaws or joints to snap. The double flower form is the origin for the name ‘Twinny’ or twins. Another unique quality is the blend of peach tone colors. The soft shades of peach, yellow and light orange are distinct, and no other snapdragon offers this range of colors. Match ‘Twinny Peach’ with blue tones of Salvia farinacea or purple foliage plants and your garden will be a knockout. In the full sun garden, ‘Twinny Peach’ will produce abundant flower spikes, plenty to cut and place in vases for fresh indoor bouquets. Plants will continue to flower all season with little garden care. Like all snapdragons, ‘Twinny Peach’ is easy to grow and it exhibited heat tolerance in the AAS Trials. This new variety was bred by HEM Genetics.

Viola F1 ‘Endurio Sky Blue Martien’
AAS Cool Season Award Winner

A burst of clear blue greets gardeners with ‘Endurio Sky Blue Martien.’ This unique spreading/mounding viola may look delicate, but delivers tough-as-nails performance in the garden. In mild southern regions it flowers throughout the winter, laughing off wind, rain, cold temperatures and passing snowfalls. In northern temperate climates, it dazzles gardeners with two-season color – flowering well after first frost when planted in autumn and once again in spring after snow has melted and soil has warmed. It can also be planted in early spring, covering planters and landscapes with sky-blue blooms well into summer. Delicate .75-inch flowers cover plants in beautiful sky blue. Spreading/mounding plants grow to 6 inches tall and 10-12 inches wide, creating a bright spot in any garden. It is also perfectly suited to window boxes and hanging gardens, as well as balcony and patio planters. ‘Endurio Sky Blue’ was bred by Syngenta Flowers, Inc.

Zinnia ‘Zahara Starlight Rose’
AAS Bedding Plant Award Winner

A stunning combination of new and old describes ‘Zahara Starlight Rose.’ Zinnias are old-fashioned flowers but these rose and white flowers are a new bicolor for this sun loving class of annuals. Other new traits are the proven resistances to leaf spot and mildew, which can devastate healthy plants and cause an early death. These superior qualities resulted in long lasting zinnia plants that provide generous color all season. ‘Zahara Starlight Rose’ is heat and drought tolerant, easy to grow in gardens. A perfect plant for the novice or experienced gardener because it is so undemanding with a maximum number of blooms. The mature plants are mid-sized, about 12 to 14 inches tall and wide, large enough to make a bold statement in containers or patio urns. Gardeners will be able to grow ‘Zahara Starlight Rose’ from seed or plants. This new zinnia was bred by PanAmerican Seed Co.