All-America SelectionsAll-America SelectionsAll-America SelectionsAll-America Selections
  • AAS Winners
    • Search AAS Winners
    • Buy Winners
    • Complete AAS Winner List
    • About AAS Winners
    • Judges’ Biographies
  • Display Gardens
    • Visit an AAS Display Garden
    • Design Challenge Winners
    • Become an AAS Display Garden
    • Info for Current Display Gardens
  • Blog
  • About
    • About AAS
    • AAS Garden Types
    • AAS Award Recipients
    • AAS Meetings
      • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Annual Reports
    • AAS Judges
  • Industry
    • Enter AAS Trials
    • AAS Media Kit
    • AAS Introduction Gardens
    • AAS Ambassador Tools
    • Signs and Brochures
    • Wholesale Sources
    • Judge’s Login
  • Contact
Next Previous

The Journey of an AAS Winner from Seed to Garden

18 August, 2022
The Journey of an AAS Winner from Seed to Garden - AAS Display Garden University of Saskatchewan - All-America Selections
The Journey of an AAS Winner from Seed to Garden - AAS Display Garden University of Saskatchewan - All-America Selections

The All-America Selections Display Garden has been part of the Horticulture program at the University of Saskatchewan for more than 15 years.

The location of the garden has changed over the years, from a shady area at the edge of an arboretum to a sunny area that lacked a lot of public traffic and finally to its current location, which is a beautiful, sunny area with significant daily foot traffic:  the main south entrance to the College of Agriculture and Bioresources building on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

The first shipment of seeds in the fall is always exciting as we get to see what new flower and vegetable varieties are being sent out this year! Are some of the old favorites included in this year’s package?

Soon after they arrive, seeds are sorted according to their seeding date. Apart from a few of the vegetables, most of the selections are started as transplants in the greenhouse. The earliest that seeding has occurred in the greenhouse is January:  Cheyenne Spirit and PowWow™ Wildberry echinacea seeds. Starting the seeds this early allowed the seedlings to experience a month of cold treatment in our 4°C coolers in hopes of promoting better flowering during the growing season. Depending on what is being grown that year, we may start as early as January and continue seeding our transplants in the greenhouse until the end of April.

The All-America Selections transplants are seeded by hand and started in our agriculture research greenhouse. Built in 1992, this glass greenhouse has artificial lights (HPS) and day/night temperatures of 22°C/18°C. We hand seed into 50 cell trays and place the trays in a mist chamber with bottom heating. As soon as some seedlings germinate, the trays are moved out onto regular greenhouse benches where they are watered by hand. A weekly application of soluble 20-20-20 fertilizer with micronutrients is applied in the greenhouse.

About one week prior to planting out, the greenhouse transplants are set outdoors in a shady, protected location to harden them off before transplanting outdoors. Transplanting, direct seeding, weeding, and watering are done by our Horticulture Field crew. This crew consists of an undergraduate university student, a seasonal full-time field technician and the field manager.

In Saskatoon, the average date of the last spring frost (latitude 52.9°N) is May 21st, but that can vary in either direction by several weeks. To avoid any chance of frost, we usually wait until the last week in May or the first week in June to transplant our All-America Selections plants outdoors. Any direct seeded vegetables are seeded about 10 days before that. Transplants are watered in with a 10-52-10 fertilizer.

Initially, the All-America Selection beds are watered about ½”/week and later in the growing season the beds receive 1” water/week. Saskatoon is in a Prairie climate which can be dry, so overhead irrigation is provided as necessary. The climate in Saskatoon can vary immensely from year to year. So far, the 2022 growing season has been a bit wetter and more cloudy than usual: the All-America Selections plants are later than usual. In 2021, the growing season was extremely hot and dry: the 2021 AAS garden would have been dead by mid-June if it were not for the overhead irrigation.

Like all gardeners, we have unusual weather variances to deal with.

The cold winters and warm, dry summers of Saskatoon are perfect for preventing many diseases or insect problems in plants. Brassica plants are the exception. Saskatchewan is an agricultural province with canola (Brassica napus) being one of the major crops in production. Because of the huge acreage of canola being grown, gardeners have a major problem with pests that attack brassica crops: flea beetles, imported cabbage worm (Pieris rapae) and root maggots. Any of the Asian greens, broccoli, kale, or cabbage that are grown in our AAS garden must be transplanted as flea beetles easily destroy the seedlings. As these crops mature, crop covers, or registered insecticides, are used to control the cabbage worm. Unfortunately, there are no insecticides available to home gardeners for root maggots: a certain percentage of our brassica plants are always lost to root maggots.

A common pest in Saskatchewan is the Richardson ground squirrel (Urocitellus richardsonii). Shortly after transplanting our All-America Selections, we discovered that marigolds, petunias, and peppers are a favorite food of this herbivore. Over one weekend, all the pepper plants were eaten off, most of the leaves of the marigolds disappeared and the petunias lost their flowers and newest leaves. Now that I know how much these pests can eat in a brief time, I will be more proactive next year in protecting our young AAS Winners!

Fennel Antares F1 - 2017 AAS Edible - Vegetable Winner What is extremely fun about this winning plant is its many uses: as an edible bulb; for its ornamental fronds; as a seed producer; and as a favorite food of pollinators, namely swallowtail caterpillars.
Candle Fire Okra -2017 AAS Winner - A unique red okra with pods that are round, not ribbed, and a brighter red color than the reddish burgundy okras currently available.

In the past, the AAS vegetables were interplanted with the AAS flowers in the garden however, the flowers often crowded out the vegetables. The AAS garden is now divided into two separate areas: an AAS Flower garden and an AAS vegetable garden. Every year the flower garden, initially, is more popular than the vegetable garden. However, as soon as the vegetables ripen, they become the focus of attention and are harvested and eaten by passers-by. Not only do the AAS gardens provide suggestions of new varieties for gardeners to try, but also new crops for northern gardeners to grow. It is wonderful to hear “we can grow that here?!” in response to such vegetables as Antares fennel, Mad Hatter pepper or Candle Fire okra.

In 2020, our AAS garden did not get planted due to events caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic. In 2021 we planted a new AAS garden just outside the gate at our field research facility as access to university buildings was limited. The new garden was smaller than the previous AAS garden, but the location was ideal: along a city walking path and beautifying the entrance to our research facility. This year, the university buildings are open again, so the AAS garden has returned to its original location on campus. However, because of all the positive comments about the garden at the gate of our research facility, we decided that we would continue with a simple flower garden at this ‘new’ location.

Sunflower Concert Bell F1 - All-America Selections Winner
2017 Petunia Evening Scentsation - 2017 Flower Winner
Sunflower Suntastic Yellow with Black Center F1 2014 AAS Bedding Plant Award Winner Suntastic is a new dwarf sunflower perfect as a cheery long-blooming potted plant or window box accent or maybe to add a burst of color to a sunny garden bed.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has affected many people around the world, including me.

When I heard the story of a Ukrainian woman who confronted a Russian soldier and gave him sunflower seeds (Ukraine’s national flower) to put in his pocket so that they might grow when he dies, I was deeply moved by her courage. I recalled that there was a new AAS sunflower available this year: ‘Concert Bell,’ AAS Winner for 2022. To honor the courage of the Ukrainian people, I decided to plant sunflowers in the ‘new’ flower bed that we had created the previous year. I have included several AAS sunflower selections in the bed: Concert Bell, Soraya, Ring of Fire and Suntastic Yellow sunflower. In the center of the bed, I planted one of my favorite AAS petunias, Evening Scentsation for its blue color (and fragrance!) as blue and yellow are the colors of the Ukrainian flag. My hope is that the flowers in this second All-America Selection flower bed at the University of Saskatchewan reminds people to keep the people of Ukraine in their thoughts and prayers.

Having an All-America Display Garden has enabled the University of Saskatchewan to highlight some of the newest and best flower and vegetable varieties available to gardeners. The gardens provide educational information to experienced gardeners who want to try something new as well as new gardeners who may not have any idea what can be grown in our climate. Being an All-America Display Garden gives the public (including our provincial greenhouse growers association) a hands-on sneak peek at some varieties that are newly available to the public. Our colorful and nutritious AAS display gardens help us advertise our horticulture program at the University of Saskatchewan: catching the attention of would-be degree students, master gardeners, and certificate students. It is a privilege and an honor to be able to grow an All-America Selections Display Garden at the University of Saskatchewan.

By Jackie Bantle, Horticulture Operations Manager, University of Saskatchewan

Leave a Comment

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




The maximum upload file size: 64 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop file here

Follow Blog via Email



Topics

  • AAS in the News
  • AAS Winners
  • Edible Winners
  • Flower/Ornamental Winners
  • Gardening Tips
  • Perennial Winners
  • Pollinator Garden
  • Recipes

Archives

  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • December 2022
  • August 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  AAS Winners

MISSION STATEMENT

“To promote new garden varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials in North America.”

CONTACT

5201 Walnut Ave. Suite 3
Downers Grove, IL 60515
Phone: 630-963-0770

QUICKLINKS

  • AAS Winners
  • Media Kit
  • Judge’s Login

ENEWS SIGN-UP

  AAS Winners
Copyright © 2023 All-America Selections.
  • AAS Winners
    • Search AAS Winners
    • Complete AAS Winner List
    • About AAS Winners
    • Judges’ Biographies
  • Newsletter Sign up
  • Display Gardens
    • Visit an AAS Display Garden
    • Design Challenge Winners
    • Become an AAS Display Garden
    • Info for Current Display Gardens
  • News
  • About
    • About AAS
    • AAS Award Recipients
    • AAS Meetings
    • Annual Reports
  • Industry
    • AAS Introduction Gardens
    • Media Kit
    • AAS Garden Types
    • Signs and Brochures
    • AAS Ambassador Tools
    • Breeders’ Entry Information
    • Wholesale Sources of AAS Winners
    • Judge’s Login
  • Contact
All-America Selections