This time of year gardeners in Northeast Ohio may be poring over seed catalogs or websites, drawing and redrawing garden plans, and dreaming of spring. Each year around this time I discuss the new All-America Selections award-designated vegetables.
All-America Selections is a nonprofit organization formed in 1932 by W. Ray Hastings, who was president of the Southern Seedsmen’s Association of Atlanta. At the time, garden editors had little information about new varieties, and sometimes information provided was incorrect. The mission of the All-America Selections organization is “to promote new garden varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials in North America.” The first trials were performed in 1932, and new AAS winners have been introduced each year since.