What is All-America Selections?
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All-America Selections (AAS) is a non-profit organization founded in 1932 that promotes new garden varieties judged to have superior performance in impartial trials across North America. Breeders enter new plant varieties in categories like vegetables, flowers, and herbs to be judged by volunteer horticultural professionals at over 80 trial sites. Varieties that outperform similar varieties and meet criteria like disease resistance and longer blooming are named AAS Winners. AAS then promotes winners through their website, social media, display gardens, and to seed companies and retailers to introduce the new varieties to consumers.
What is All-America Selections?
- 2. A non-profit organization, founded in 1932 by Ray Hastings, that promotes new garden varieties judged to have superior garden performance in impartial trials throughout North America.
- 3. AAS is the oldest, and most trusted national trialing organization in North America, supported by breeding companies.
- 4. Entries Breeders enter new, never-before-sold cultivars to be judged in one of four categories: 1. Seed Ornamentals (flowers & foliage grown from seed) 2. Vegetative Ornamentals (flowers & foliage grown from cuttings) 3. Edible/Vegetables from Seed (self- explanatory!) 4. Herbaceous Perennials (perennials that die
- 5. AAS Trials Sites in U.S. and Canada 1. Seed Ornamentals 40 sites 2. Edible/Vegetable 28 sites 3. Vegetative Ornamentals 18 sites 4. Herbaceous Perennials 24 sites Total of 80 AAS Trial Judges!
- 6. AAS Trial Site: Dallas Arboretum
- 7. AAS Trial Site: Rotary Botanical Gardens
- 8. AAS Trial Site: Green Bay Botanical Garden
- 9. Horticulture professionals Seasoned trialing experts Unpaid they volunteer their time Unbiased - cannot judge their own entries The core of our success AAS Trial Judges
- 10. What qualities make an AAS Winner? Better tasting vegetables Longer blooming annuals Superior disease resistance Unique colors or qualities More flowers or fruits per plant AAS Winners must out-perform other similar varieties on the market in order to win the AAS Winner designation
- 11. After the Trial; Introduction Criteria Breeder gives the variety a marketing name Breeder submits publicity photos Seed/Cuttings in inventory Germination tests results are submitted Product is priced and ready to ship Now it can be declared an AAS Winner
- 12. Publicity After Introduction To: Seed Companies Distribution chain Growers Retailers Garden Writers Bloggers Consumers
- 14. Publicity Program Implementing Social Media: Pinterest Facebook Instagram Twitter 際際滷 Share Etc.
- 15. Publicity Program Display Gardens Almost 200 public gardens grow and display the past five years of AAS Winners.
- 17. Display Garden: Denver Botanic Gardens
- 18. Display Garden: Michigan State University
- 19. Display Garden: Miami University, Hamilton Conservatory
- 20. Display Garden: University of Saskatchewan
- 21. Display Garden: University of Delaware
- 22. Display Garden: MSU South Mississippi State University