All-American Selections for 2021
By Ray Novitske, Fairfax Master Gardener
After reviewing the list of new 2021 All-American plant selections, I was surprised by the low number. Upon further investigation, I found the list of winners by year, and realized that some of last year’s winners were not announced until after my January 2020 list was posted. Some of the annual selections are not announced at the beginning of the year, but throughout the year. So, the following list contains the remaining 2020 winners as well as the 2021 selections made as of today.
All-American Selections Inc. is a non-profit organization that makes annual selections of the best plants based on trial garden performance over the past few years. Information about the organization’s history and judging can be reviewed in our first announcement of the 2017 winners.
Echalion Creme Brulee
The first-ever shallot to win the AAS Winner designation, these single-centered bulbs have a bright coppery pink outer skin and a pretty rosy-purple interior. They are earlier to mature than other shallots and can be easily grown from seed. When caramelized, the natural sugars are enhanced and do not leave any overpowering aftertastes.
Zinnia Profusion Red Yellow Bicolor
This new bicolor addition to the popular Profusion series of zinnias starts the season with a vibrant red center surrounded by golden-yellow outer petals. As the season progresses, the flowers morph into soft, beautiful shades of apricot, salmon, and dusty rose. Floriferous and compact during the summer, it continues to bloom new flowers over old so there was never a decline.
Squash Goldilocks
This is a vigorous plant, high yield, disease tolerant acorn squash with rich nutty flavor. The bright orange fruits are uniform in shape and color, and double as an ornamental decoration in the fall.
Leucanthemum Sweet Daisy Birdy
This perennial with its robust, long-lasting blooms and carefree longevity, demonstrated excellent cold and heat tolerance and maintained a tidy, sturdy habit over three years. The 5-inch flowers are large and pure white in color, appearing earlier in the season than the comparison varieties.
Pepper Pot-a-peno
This fun new jalapeno pepper with a compact bushy habit is perfect for growing in containers and hanging baskets. Plentiful small, green jalapeño fruits will ripen to red for a sweet, spicy flavor — earlier than other jalapenos. A dense foliage canopy makes for an attractive addition to your patio or balcony garden.
Celosia Kelos® Candela Pink
The bright pink blooms rise above the foliage almost like a tall, tapered candle. Unique, showy plumes of pink flowers keep their color all season long, and add height and interest to a combination container planting. Another added bonus: it works as a dried flower.
Tomato Apple Yellow
This uniquely dimpled, apple-shaped fruit with a deliciously sweet citrusy taste has a firm, meaty texture. Fruits are an eye-catching, bright, lemon yellow. The balance of sugar and acid flesh in a firm exterior makes it perfect stuffed with a savory cheese for a delicious appetizer.
Tomato Buffalosun
This indeterminate tomato had a better texture than the comparisons, a higher yield and less cracking. A unique yellow with red/orange flame coloration is beautiful on the outside and results in a nicely marbled interior. It also outlasted the comparisons when disease hit in late summer, notably thanks to its late blight resistance.
Delphinium Cheer Blue
This new compact delphinium is covered with gorgeous blue flowers and has great vigor, excellent germination. Its uniformity makes it a great bedding, container and landscape plant. With the earlier bloom time and slightly extended flower period into early summer, Northern gardeners now have a delphinium to love.
Pea Snak Hero
Slender 4″ long pods have the straight and elongated appearance of a succulent green bean but the taste and texture of a snap pea. Stringless, edible pods are perfect for healthy, garden-fresh snacking, stir-frying, or freezing. Vines can be grown with or without support and are perfect for patio containers or hanging baskets.
Tomato Crokini
This winner has a very sweet, light acidic taste and is firm with a crunchy texture. Fruits do not crack on the vine and plants are yielding up to 10-12 fruits per cluster. In-bred Late Blight resistance lasts well into September to keep it producing for a long season.
Potato Clancy
These spuds are a beautiful ornamental mix ranging from red to rose blush skin tones with interiors of creamy white and yellow. This has a great texture and flavor — good for mashing or boiling. Growing from seed offers the potential to eliminate introducing disease to the garden. It is easier to store seed and it can be stored longer than tubers.
Tomato Chef’s Choice Bicolor
Plants produce large 7-8 ounce flattened beefsteak fruits with beautiful pinkish-red internal stripes within a yellow flesh. They are as sweet as they are beautiful with a better flavor and texture than the comparisons. Gardeners will enjoy earlier maturity and more uniform fruits that hold up all season long, producing well into September.
Rudbeckia Amarillo Gold
A beautiful Rudbeckia boasts a compact form and uniform habit perfect for landscapes, bedding, and containers. Large 4-6” blooms with their light green center disc are surrounded by bold sunshiny colors that cover 12-18” plants. Blooms were earlier to flower than the comparisons and lasted throughout the summer.
In our area, the annual winners can be viewed growing at the following gardens during the growing season:
• Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD
• Clyburn Arboretum, Baltimore, MD
• Parkside High A+ Garden, Salisbury, MD
• Virginia Tech Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach, VA
• J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Garden, Goochland, VA
• Norfolk Botanical Garden, Norfolk, VA
• Virginia Western Community College, Roanoke, VA
• Frederick County Career and Technology Center, Frederick, MD
• Willow Oaks, Richmond, VA
• Carver Center Rapidan River Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden, Rapidan, VA
Past Selections
All-American Selections Inc.
2020 All-American Selections
2019 All-American Selections
2018 All-American Selections
2017 All-American Selections