All-America Selections is an independent non-profit trialing organization established in 1932 and still going strong 92 years later! AAS trial sites and display gardens are spread across the US and Canada, including nine gardens in Iowa. Reiman Gardens is proud to be both a trial site for multiple categories and a display garden highlighting recent winners. Check out the All-America Selections website for trial and display sites, winners, blogs, and so much more!
Be sure to visit Reiman Gardens this summer to see what's in trials this year! You'll see new breeding work in tomatoes, zinnias, cosmos, and SO MUCH MORE! Make your own evaluations and see if your favorites are announced as winners for 2025!
This week at Reiman Gardens, we cleaned up and planted new entries in the AAS herbaceous perennial trial beds. If you have visited Reiman before, but have never seen our perennial trials, sneak behind the row of 'Purple Prince' crabapples on the west side of trials to see what's new! Perennial trials are tested for 3 years, so results take a little longer. Here are a couple of great perennials for your garden!
Rudbeckia x 'American Gold Rush': The first perennial winner was announced in 2020 and this Rudbeckia deserves all the recognition it has received from many industry groups, including being named 2023 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association. Bright golden-yellow blooms, easy to grow in all conditions, and greatly improved resistance to fungal infection that plagues other Rudbeckias in Iowa summers, 'American Gold Rush' is worth seeking out at your local garden center (propagated vegetatively, not by seed). You and all your pollinator friends will love this one!
Echinacea hybrida 'Cheyenne Spirit': This coneflower won an AAS flower award, which means it was trialed as an annual, however 'Cheyenne Spirit' will return as a perennial and also does a bit of reseeding. Blooms come in a wide range of colors from pink and purple to orange, yellow, and cream. 'Cheyenne Spirit' is first-year flowering and makes a great option in any pollinator, cut flower, or xeriscape garden!
Salvia hybrida 'Blue by You': 'Blue by You' is a new meadow sage that flowers earlier than comparisons like 'May Night'. Like most perennial sages, home gardeners will see a second flush of blooms heading into fall after deadheading the summer flush. Another great addition to your pollinator garden!
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