American Garden Award enters its third year

After almost 11,000 consumers voted in the 2010 American Garden Award contest, the program is back and bigger than ever for 2011. There are now 24 participating public gardens displaying seven new varieties for the gardening public to choose as their favorite.

All 24 gardens can be viewed on the AGA website. The gardens will wait until their local safe-planting date to install the entries and make them available for viewing by garden visitors, who can then vote on their favorite. There are three ways to vote:

• By texting a given code to a polling number
• By going to www.americangardenaward.com and clicking on the voting button
• By using postage-paid voting postcards located at most gardens

Follow American Garden Award on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with the voting results:
www.facebook.com/americangardenaward or @AmerGardenAward

The seven entries are:

• Dahlia ‘Dahlinova Hypnotica Lavender’ from Fides North America
• Dianthus ‘Kahori’ from Fides North America
• Ornamental Pepper ‘Uchu’ from American Takii
• Petunia ‘Easy Wave Neon Rose’ from PanAmerican Seed
• Petunia milliflora ‘Picobella Rose Star’ from Syngenta Flowers
• Scaevola ‘Surdiva Light Blue’ from Suntory Flowers Ltd.
• ‘SunPatiens Variegated Spreading White’ from Sakata Seed Company                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 Voting opens the morning of May 13 and runs until August 31. Winners are announced in September. The 2009 and 2010 winners can be viewed at www.americangardenaward.com.

A new element, exclusively for garden retailers, has been added to the award program this year, according to Diane Blazek, executive director of All-America Selections—which administers the program. Garden centers near one of the AGA Display Gardens can be designated as the program’s “participating retailer” for that area.

“That means the garden center will carry the entries and past winners that are appropriate for their climate and clientele,” Blazek said. “They are listed on our website and the signage at the display garden will encourage garden visitors to visit that store to purchase plants.”

More details on the retail program are available on the American Garden Award website.

The American Garden Award program is administered by the All-America Selections Display Garden program. AGA entries have not been trialed nor awarded a winner status by the AAS Trial Judges.