All-America Selections, North America’s oldest and most well-known non-profit plant trialing organization just announced five new winners, all of which are wonderful new edible varieties.
Each of the following new AAS Winners was trialed throughout North America by professional, independent, volunteer judges who grew them next to comparisons that are considered best-in-class. Only those entries that performed better than the comparisons are granted the AAS award designation.
The new winners are:
- Tomato Celano F1 — Celano is a patio type grape tomato with a strong bushy habit. It is best grown with some support, such as a tomato cage. This semi-determinate hybrid tomato is an early producer of sweet oblong fruits weighing about 0.6 oz. each. Plants grow to 40″ in height and spread to 24″ and have excellent late blight tolerance.
- Cucumber Green Light F1 — This is an excellent mini cucumber, said many of the AAS Judges. The yield was higher than the comparison varieties with more attractive fruit, earlier maturity and superior eating quality. Grow Green Light on stakes or poles for a productive, easy-to-harvest vertical garden that will yield 40 or more spineless fruits per plant.
- Tomato Early Resilience F1 — Early Resilience is a rounded Roma tomato with a deep red interior color, uniform maturity and good quality flesh for canning and cooking. Determinate, bushy plants can be staked but it is not necessary. The AAS Judges noted that this variety was very resistant to Blossom End Rot, resulting in a high yield and less fruit loss. Similar great taste as the comparisons but a much healthier plant and fruits.
- Tomato Galahad F1 — Galahad is a brave new tomato variety that has a high level of Late Blight resistance because both parents are resistant. In this case, one plus one equals a very strong two. Galahad is a high-yielding, great tasting tomato that grows on a strong sturdy plant. Judges agreed that the sweet, meaty flavor is better than that of the comparison varieties and boasts of being crack resistant.
- Watermelon Mambo F1 — Summertime means melon time and Mambo watermelon will grow and yield well even in cool cloudy conditions. Gardeners who plant Mambo will enjoy multiple, perfectly round melons with a beautiful dark green rind and deep red flesh. The sweet crisp flesh is extremely tasty and holds well (doesn’t overripen) if you can’t harvest them right away. Each 9″ fruit will weigh about 11 pounds at maturity, which is only 75 days from transplant. A smaller seed cavity means you almost get the look of a seedless melon but the superior taste of a seeded melon.
Each AAS Winner is marketed through social media, public relations and trade shows and are proudly grown in 190 AAS Display Gardens across North America. Growers, retailers and consumers will find these AAS Winners for sale as supply becomes available through the distribution chain.
Source: All-America Selections
