About AAS Winners - All-America Selections | AAS Judges Biographies

About AAS Winners

The All-America Selections Trialing Process

All-America Selections National and Regional Winners have been tested for garden performance by a panel of expert judges. Varieties that perform best over all of North America become AAS National Winners. Entries that performed particularly well in certain regions are named AAS Regional Winners. The AAS Winners offer gardeners reliable new varieties that have proven their superior garden performance in Trial Grounds across North America, thus, our tagline of “Tested Nationally and Proven Locally®”.

When you purchase an AAS Winner, you know that it has been put through its paces by an independent, neutral trialing organization and has been judged by experts in their field. The AAS Winner label is like a stamp of approval. AAS Winners are bred and produced without using genetic engineering, commonly referred to as genetic modification or GMO.

For a downloadable Excel file of all AAS Winners from 1932 to present, please click here.

Who Determines an AAS Winner?

Independent AAS Judges determine the AAS Winners by judging and scoring the entries. Judges look for significantly improved qualities such as earliness to bloom or harvest, disease or pest tolerance, novel colors or flavors, novel flower forms, total yield, the length of flowering or harvest and overall performance. In the last ten years, an entry needs to have at least two significantly improved qualities to be considered by Judges for an AAS Award.

The Judges score each entry from 0 to 5 points, with 5 being the highest. Only entries that meet scoring criteria is considered for a possible Award. New, never-before-sold varieties with proven superior qualities are announced three times each year as AAS Winners.

Click on the video on the left where Paul James, AAS Judge, explains the judging process.

Trial Ground sign at Rotary Botanical Garden

AAS Trial Grounds

An AAS Trial Ground is one of the most important elements in the process of declaring AAS Winners. A Trial Ground is a location where a professional horticulturist works in their field and where the AAS entries are planted next to comparisons or scientifically speaking, controls. Once the AAS entries are transplanted into a Trial Ground, the AAS Judges observe and evaluate the garden performance. At the end of the trial season, the judges send their scores and evaluations to the AAS Office for tabulation.

Vinca Mega Bloom Pink Halo at Humber Arboretum Toronto - AAS Display Garden

Only the Best Become AAS Winners

Only the best garden performers (best scores) become AAS Winners. Once new varieties are announced as AAS Winners, they are available for immediate sale and distribution. Home gardeners will find seeds available from their favorite catalog or online seed source or as young plants at their favorite garden retailer.

See All Winners >

The AAS Judges

AAS judges are located in geographically diverse areas all over the U.S. and Canada. Since its inception, AAS has relied on the expertise of our volunteer judges to be the eyes and evaluators of our flower and vegetable entries. Without them, we could not confidently say that we have experts in the field who are trialing these new varieties to determine which entries are worthy of an AAS Award. Our judges work for companies such as breeders, brokers, growers, garden centers, public gardens or land grant universities. Their role is or includes trial management for their respective organizations.

If press or media would like to contact or interview one of our AAS Judges, please contact the office for an introduction.

Click here to see a map of all trial sites throughout North America.

We are grateful to our judges and thank them for their time. We would like to acknowledge the following experts for their contributions:

Mark Amiya, Sakata Seed America

Mark has vast experience in the commercial sector of the agricultural industry as a former employee of Tanimura and Antle. He has shown dedicated service to Sakata Seed America as Farming Operations Coordinator. Mark has grown the AAS trials in Salinas since 2008. He joined the AAS as a Judge for the 2015 AAS Edible Trial.

Diane Anderson, University of Illinois

Diane Anderson is a Research and Education Specialist at the University of Illinois and since 2002 the Grounds Supervisor of the 60-acre UI Arboretum. The Arboretum houses the Hartley Selections Garden where ornamental varieties are evaluated and AAS winners displayed. AAS trials were added to Diane’s evaluation program in 2012. Diane studied agronomic weed science at Southern Illinois University and after 14 years in Agronomy at the University of Illinois obtained an M.S. in Horticulture. She oversees 2 fulltime gardeners and 5 student interns in maintenance, new project development, and plant collection expansion. A recently completed ponds renovation included replacing invasive species with natives.

Eileen Anderson, Aris Green Leaf Plants

After working 25 years in advertising and branding research, Eileen decided to change careers and embrace her love of horticulture. She returned to school and obtained her Associates in Horticulture and Landscape Design. Since then, she’s worked for one of the largest grower/wholesale nurseries in the NYC metro area, focusing on perennial sales and growing.Eileen joins AAS as a Perennial judge.

Alex Augustyniak, West Coast Seeds

Alex grew up on a farm in Ontario with over 400 acres of vegetables, 15 acres of tomatoes, and a pollinator area of wildflowers; he’s been growing things ever since. Alex is currently the General Manager at West Coast Seeds where they are trialing flowers, herbs, vegetables, cover crops, sprouting seed and microgreens for their own business’ product offering. He enjoys helping customers learn how to grow annuals and perennials and is expanding their display and demonstration gardens to help customers visualize their options. He joins AAS as an Ornamental Seed Judge for the 2018 Trials.

Steve Bellavia, Johnny's Selected Seeds

Steve Bellavia is a senior product technician at Johnny’s Selected seeds. He began his career with Johnny’s in 1993 as a call center representative and moved into the commercial sales department the following year. In 1997 Steve transitioned into the research department, where he has since conducted field work on nearly every vegetable crop offered by Johnny’s. He is particularly passionate about peppers and Asian vegetables. Because a full week of field work on the job doesn’t satisfy all of Steve’s growing and cooking passions, he also takes pride in maintaining a large home garden to grow food for eating year-round. Steve’s many years of mentorship from former Johnny’s AAS Judge Rob Johnston’s combined with his tenure in the vegetable trialing program makes him the natural choice to become the official vegetable Judge of the company.

Pam Bennett, Ohio State University Extension

Pam Bennett is an Associate Professor for Ohio State University Extension and is the State Master Gardener Volunteer Coordinator as well as Horticulture Educator and Director in Clark County Ohio. She has a BS in Landscape Horticulture and an MS in Human and Community Resource Development from Ohio State University. Pam specializes in herbaceous ornamental plant trials and evaluates more than 200 varieties of annuals and perennials yearly. She presents programs on annuals and perennials as well as other landscape topics. In 2010, Pam won a national award from the National Association of Agriculture Agents. She has been a Bedding Plant, Flower, and Cool Season Judge for All-America Selections since 2012. Starting in 2015 Pam became an Ornamental Seed Trial judge and she is a Herbaceous Perennial Trial judge.

Jeff Buchner, Sheridan Nurseries

Biography coming soon

Connie Bijl, William Dam Seeds Ltd

Connie Dam-Byl is the Flower Seed Manager for William Dam Seeds in Dundas, Ontario Canada. She graduated from Sheridan College for Fashion Design and Production and later became accredited as a Floral Design Judge with the Garden Clubs of Ontario. Connie oversees the flower trials and designs the display beds for William Dam Seeds. She devotes a lot of her time speaking to garden clubs and horticulture societies about new seed varieties each season. Connie has been a Cool Season Judge for All-America Selections since 2011. She is currently a judge for the Ornamental Seed trial.

Andrew Billing, Territorial Seed Company

Andrew is Product Development Manager at Territorial Seed Company. His responsibilities include evaluating hundreds of vegetable, flower and herb varieties each year. He has years of experience consulting and managing small diversified farms in Oregon, Michigan, and North Carolina and has been an avid gardener his entire adult life. Andrew is knowledgeable in Organic methods. He holds an MBA from Portland State University. Andrew is an Edible Judge for AAS.

Solange Blais, Norseco

Solange received her diploma as a technologist in agro-environment and horticulture production in 2004. Solange has been working with Norseco for the past 7 years and recently took the position of seed buyer for the ornamental division. Solange is replacing long-time judge Lise Goudreau who is retiring after 30 years of managing this department . Solange assisted Lise with the 2017 trials and is looking forward to taking over AAS Ornamental Seed Trial in 2018.

Jeannine Bogard, Syngenta Flowers

Jeannine’s passion for vegetable gardening began at the young age of 5 when she started learning the basics of growing vegetables from her neighbor who was a retired farmer. Her hands have been in the dirt ever since. She is a 1982 graduate of Michigan State University with a bachelor of science degree in Horticulture with a Vegetable Science emphasis. A 30+year veteran of the seed industry, Jeannine has worked extensively with plant breeders evaluating crops for introduction. Since 2012 she has actively managed all aspects of the Syngenta Flowers Home and Garden Vegetable program including sales, marketing and garden trials. In 2019 she joins AAS as an Edible Trial Judge.

Allison Boozer, Costa Farms

Allison Boozer graduated from Clemson University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture. While at Clemson she helped research graduates conduct several experiments on rooting agents and moisture levels to promote roots. She also helped manage a sustainable garden and worked on campus beautification. After graduation she started her Horticulture career as an Annuals Manager for a retail garden center. In 2014 she joined the Costa Farms team as a grower in the Trenton, SC location for the perennial division. Some of her duties were planning out tasks for crops, overseeing production, inspecting incoming material, and overseeing chemical applications. In 2018, she was promoted to Research and Development Manager at Costa Farms where her responsibilities include their trial garden and confidential trials. Allison became a judge for the AAS Herbaceous Perennial Trial in 2018.

Courtney Buckley, Sakata Seed America

Courtney obtained her doctorate in Plant Medicine from the University of Florida, where she worked in the university’s Plant Diagnostic Clinic helping to diagnose a wide range of issues, from fungal and viral infections to insect infestations and improper soil management. She then became Trials Coordinator for the R&D Department at Four Star Greenhouse in Carleton, Michigan and taught Greenhouse Management at Owens Community College. Courtney is currently the Head Grower-Trial Manager at Sakata Seed America where she oversees the ornamental seed trials and manages the production of new floral material presented at the California Spring Trials.

Teresa Bunn, Monsanto Vegetable Seeds Inc

Teresa Beck Bunn earned her BS and MS in Genetics from the University of California, Davis. She has worked for Petoseed as a Summer Technician and the State of California as a Tomato Inspector. Her work experience also includes a Research Assistant and Plant Breeder for Harris Moran Seed Company and Seminis/Monsanto where she specialized in breeding tomatoes and peppers. She has been a Vegetable (now called Edible) Trial Judge for All-America Selections since 1992. In 2016 Teresa became an AAS Ornamental Seed Judge

Patty Buskirk, Seeds by Design/Terra Organics

Patty Buskirk is the managing partner for both Seeds by Design and Terra Organics located in Maxwell, California, where since 1994, she has overseen all the day-to-day administration, research, development, marketing and production activities. She attended CSU Chico as an Agronomy and Ag Business major. Immediately after college she worked at Northrup King in Gilroy, CA and then at NPI/Western Hybrid Seed in northern California. After being employed in the seed industry for over 30 years, she considers herself a “dinosaur” in the seed industry. She loves the everyday challenges and ever-changing world of seed production, research and trialing. In 2013 Patty was appointed as a Vegetable Judge for All-America Selections, and added the Ornamental Seed Trial in 2017.

Brian Campbell, West Coast Seeds

Brian Campbell is a production manager at West Coast Seeds. His current responsibilities include assessing seed quality and maintaining seed quality at commercial standards. He is the manager of the vegetable and flower trialing program at West Coast Seeds. Besides his work at West coast Seeds, Brian manages a commercial beekeeping operation at Blessed Bee Farm. The Edible Trials of 2016 mark the beginning of Brian’s trialing as an AAS Judge.

Matt Carpenter, UT Gardens, Knoxville.

Matt Carpenter joined the University of Tennessee Gardens in 2021 as a horticulture specialist and collections manager. He received his B.S. in Plant Science from UT Martin and went on to get his M.S. at Mississippi State University in Agronomy. He specializes in turfgrass, but has a passion for all plants and horticulture. His current responsibilities include greenhouse management, garden maintenance, plant curation and collection management, horticulture research, and assisting with turfgrass maintenance. Matt is responsible for judging ornamental non-seed containers and perennial in-ground trials. He is excited to be able to help the plant industry thrive and to assist in getting the best cultivars on the market and out to the public.

Matt Carr, Olson's Greenhouse Inc.

Matt earned a B.S. of Ornamental Horticulture from Utah State University. He is the VP of Horticultural Operations at Olson’s Greenhouse Inc, one of the largest growing operations in North America. Matt oversees the research and development department and the research garden, working with all major breeding companies to assist them with product development and overwintering of perennials. Matt joins AAS as a Perennial judge.

Kristi Challender, C. Raker & Sons Inc

Kristi Challender graduated from Lansing Community College in 2006 with an Associate’s degree in Landscape Architecture. In 2001 she was hired at Raker’s in Litchfield, MI and has been involved with their trials since that time. She supervises the moisture management/feeding and pest/disease control during the summer. Kristi sows, transplants and cares for the AAS Trials where she oversees the crop from start to finish. Kristi is an AAS judge for the Cool Season Bedding Plant Trial and the Ornamental Vegetative Trial.

Bernadette Clark, North Carolina State University

Bernadette Clark is the Trial Garden Manager at the JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Her responsibilities at the Arboretum include sowing all seed entries and pot up vegetative material , configuring the layout of all entries in the trials, rating the entries weekly, compiling the data, and writing the winter and summer trial reports. She is also responsible for the exhibit of large display containers that are “Living Billboards” for local companies. Bernadette has been a Bedding Plant Judge since 2005, a Cool Season Judge since 2006, and a Flower Judge since 2011 for All-America Selections. Currently she is an Ornamental Seed Judge.

Jessica Cloninger, Boerner Botanical Gardens

Jessica has been educated in landscape design and has a B.S. in Applied Plant Science. She gained experience working with the AAS trials as an intern at Walt Disney World. After her bachelor’s degree, Jessica worked in the retail garden center industry for eleven years. She was hired at the Milwaukee County Parks in 2010 and is currently responsible for the operations of the John & Hildegarde Voight Trial Garden. In 2015 Jessica joined the AAS Council of Judges as an Ornamental Seed judge.

Doug Cole, D S Cole Growers

Doug Cole is the President of D.S. Cole Growers and Chairman of New Hampshire Land and Community Investment Program. He is a member of America in Bloom and Past President of OFA. D.S. Cole is the first North American grower to be certified under Dutch standards to be a sustainable grower. In 2014 Doug joined the All-America Selections Council of Judges as an Ornamental Vegetative Judge.

Kathleen Cooper, Costa Farms

Kathleen Cooper graduated from Clemson University in 2014 with a B.Sc in Biology. In 2014, she began with Costa Farms in the Research and Development department working with perennial trials. Since 2017, she has held Research and Development Manager positions for Costa Farms in Asheville, NC and Miami, FL, and executed the trials regarding propagation and production for annuals and perennials. Kathleen’s current responsibilities include overseeing and evaluating the confidential trials and public trial grounds for Costa Farms in Miami, FL.

David Czarnecki, Ernst Benary of America

David Czarnecki graduate from Texas A&M with a B.S. in horticulture then graduated from the University of Florida with a M.S. and Ph.D. from the Environmental Horticulture department. His graduate degrees were in the field of plant breeding and genetics. He studied native ornamental species and invasive ornamental species while in graduate school. Upon graduation David was hired by Benary in 2011 and he works on breeding several species and his participation in greenhouse and field evaluations is ongoing.

Jesse Dahl, The Arboretum-State Botanical Garden of Kentucky

Jesse Dahl is Senior Horticulturist at The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky where he is responsible for planning, planting, designing and supervsing a crew of full-time, seasonal workers and volunteers on 20 acres of horticulture display gardens. He earned his B.S. in Plant and Soil Sciences from the University of Idaho. He has worked as a groundskeeper at The University of Idaho Arboretum and Botanical Garden, Horticulturist at The Morton Arboretum, and Arboretum Horticulturist and now Senior Horticulturist at The Arboretum State Botanical Garden of Kentucky. Jesse joins AAS as an Ornamental Seed Judge.

Nathan Dalman, Univ of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center

Nate began working in horticulture as a part time job in college and there discovered his interest in the field. This allowed him to pursue a career in horticulture research and further improve his plant knowledge. He has been at the West Central Research and Outreach Center since early 2019 where he is in charge of growing not only a wide variety of both annual and perennial flowers, but also fruit and vegetable crops to study new varieties and growing systems. Nathan is the Co-Director of Horticulture where he leads the growing, maintainence, data collection and reporting of various crops.

William Dam, William Dam Seeds Ltd

William Dam graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in Horticulture and is the third generation owner of William Dam Seeds in Dundas, Ontario Canada. His company’s philosophy regarding the selling of good seed varieties is that “one must know them to sell them with confidence.” Bill has been instrumental in increasing the size of their trials from small family sized plots to over 1000 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers encompassing five acres. He is also responsible for modernizing the farming methods used by the company. Bill has been a Vegetable (now call Edible) Trial Judge for All-America Selections since 2011.

Brenda DeLong, Dreamscape, Inc

Brenda DeLong is a retired Landscape Architect. Owning and operating a Landscape design and construction company for 25 years. Her primary responsibilities were designing landscapes, gardens, pond, waterfalls, etc and overseeing new landscape installations. She earned her Associates degree in Landscape Architecture at Lansing Community College in 1985. After retiring, she started a non-profit for disadvantage children using horses to build confidence, hope, and love. In the non-profit, she used her horticulture & gardening skills installing gardens to produce vegetables for needy families.

Kirsten DeLong, Pure Line Seeds, Inc

In May 2015, Pure Line Seeds started their first field trials geared specifically towards fresh market vegetables. This was done not only to allow PLS employees a chance to look at the vegetable varieties they carry but also to let customers see the products. The 2016 Showcase trials included 140 10 x 10 ft. plots with 19 different vegetables and over 120 different varieties. Kirsten Rosen is the manager of these field trials and an AAS Edible – Vegetable Judge.

Venelin Dimitrov, W. Atlee Burpee & Co.

Venelin was born and raised in the town of Silistra in north-eastern Bulgaria -South Eastern Europe. He earned his bachelor’s degree in agribusiness from Agricultural University Plovdiv (Bulgaria) in 1999. Venelin began his career in horticulture with Wyevale Transplants in UK during his summer brakes in college, internship at T & L Nursery in Woodinville, near Seattle and then working at Maryland Flower and Foliage as a green-house grower. Before Joining Burpee in 2009, Venelin spent 9 years working for Mayer Seed International in Baltimore as a horticulturalist. At Burpee he has been involved in garden performance evaluation, and selection of the best flower colors and shapes for Burpee’s home gardening customers. He spends his free time in the garden, with his family, antique shopping and traveling.

Ryan Doughty, Moss Greenhouses

Ryan has been growing with the horticulture and floral industry since 1986. His experience ranges from floral shop ownership, floral deisgner, grower, production manager and worked hands on in about every part of the business. Before coming back to his childhood hometown, Ryan was the head grower and production manager at Weidner’s Gardens in California. Trying out new varieties is something he’s worked with in several positions throughout the years. Ryan’s specialty is vegetative annuals and loves designing containers. Ryan served on the San Diego Flower and Plant Association Board of Directors for 4 years.

Kelley Dunn, City of Tulsa

Kelley Dunn is a Tulsa, OK native who began her career in 1998 in a locally owned “Garden Showplace” nursery, greenhouse & novelty 100+ yr old family business. She was immediately drawn into the world of horticulture and never left. She worked for several other family-owned Tulsa businesses over the years in the horticulture industry–from floral shops to other large operation nurseries. In 2006, she pursued a more formal education & graduated from TCC with one associate’s degree in Interior Plants & Floral Design, & one in Greenhouse & Nursery Management. Kelley now works for the City of Tulsa as the lead gardener; shares her training & experience with entry level gardeners as well as maintaining The Conservatory at Woodward Park.

Robert Durgy, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Robert Durgy has been the Farm Supervisor for the CT Agricultural Experiment Station at the Griswold Research Center in Griswold, CT since 2008. The farm is a field station for scientists to conduct experiments on agricultural, horticultural and forestry crops. Previously Rob worked for 13 years for the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System, the last four managing the Plant Diagnostic Lab. Research studies have concentrated on field corn and vegetable production including pest and weed management, soil fertility and organic production practices.

Rob has been assistant to the All-America Selections vegetable trials judge, first under Dr. Richard Ashley and now Dr. Jude Boucher, at the University of Connecticut since 1992. He has taught the vegetable section of the UConn Master Gardener course since 2002.

Bill Errickson, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County

Bill Errickson is the Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent in Monmouth County with a focus on nursery, turfgrass, and agricultural innovation. He has worked in various aspects of the agricultural sector for the past 15 years, including operating his own diversified farm in coastal Maine and growing bare-root nursery stock for Fedco Trees. He has led courses focused on sustainable agriculture and soil fertility for commercial growers, homeowners, and college students throughout New Jersey and New England. Bill is currently completing a Doctoral degree in Plant Biology from Rutgers University and holds a M.S. in Soil Science from the University of New Hampshire, as well as a B.S. in Biology from Stockton University.

Scott Evans, Nebraska Extension in Douglas-Sarpy Counties

Scott Evans is the Horticulture Program Coordinator for Nebraska Extension in Douglas-Sarpy Counties. His primary role within Extension is leading the Master Gardener volunteers in the two county area. Scott is passionate about plants and pollinators with his B.S. in Botany and Environmental Geology and Masters in Agriculture. Scott joined AAS in 2018 as a judge in the Ornamental Seed Trial, and an assistant in the Edible Trial.

Dennis Ferlito, Bejo Geneva Home & Market Gardens

Dennis Ferlito is currently the Facility Manager for Bejo Seeds, Inc in Geneva NY. He manages a 309 acre vegetable research and product development farm that conducts trials for breeding, market development, dealer training and promotion. He is involved in trial planning, implementation, growing and conducting trial evaluations for Breeders, Product and Market development. He has also worked closely with researchers at Cornell University. Growing vegetables has been a lifelong passion for Dennis. In 2014 Dennis became an AAS Vegetable Judge. He is currently a judge for the Edible Trial.

Jeb S Fields, LSU Ag Center

Dr. Jeb S. Fields is an Assistant Professor & Statewide Extension Specialist for the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, focusing on Commercial Ornamental Horticulture. Dr. Fields serves as the director of the Ornamental Trial Gardens at the Hammond Research Station. His research and Extension program focuses on nursery and greenhouse production parameters (soilless substrates, water, and fertilizer) and sustainable landscape systems. Dr. Fields received a B.S. in Horticulture Science from the University of Florida, a M.S. in Ornamental Horticulture from North Carolina State University, and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.

Adam Flint, PanAmerican Seed

Adam Flint has been with PanAmerican Seed since 2017 as a Research Facility Manager. In his role he oversees the PanAmerican Seed Research Facility located in Santa Paula, California. He works with a dedicated team, primarily focusing on ornamental plant breeding, seed milling, and marketing events. In his past Adam has worked as a Production Manager and Research and Development Grower. Adam has been an All-American Selections judge for Ornamental Seed since 2018.

Alex Gerace, Welby Gardens

Alex Gerace is the President and CEO of Welby Gardens in Denver, CO. This is a family owned business, which opened in 1948. The greenhouse has one million square feet of growing space and produces 70 million plants yearly. Al serves on the AAS Comparison Committee and judges all AAS Trials. His first year as an All-America Selection’s judge was 1994.

Leigh Geschwill, F & B Farms and Nursery

Leigh runs sales and marketing for F & B Farms and Nursery, a greenhouse grower for the independent market in the Pacific NW. Industry wide she participates in the Oregon Association of Nurseries Research Committee, the Oregon Department of Agriculture Nursery Advisory Board, and is a director for the Hort Reseach Institute. Leigh helped bring the International Trials Conference to Portland’s Farwest Show in 2015. She is passionate about research and innovation for our industry. At the greenhouse, she evaluates new plant introductions and in-house trials for product development and market suitability. Leigh joined AAS in 2018 as an Edible Trial judge.

Elaine Graham, Bayer

Elaine grew up in Davis, and discovered an interest in plants while on the rowing team at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (B.S. in Biochemistry). After graduating and moving back to Davis, she worked for Harris Moran, found a love for plant breeding, and drove endlessly up and down the Central Valley of California seeding and evaluating processing tomato trials. She then went back to school at UC Davis working with the Tomato Genetics Resource Center (M.S. and Ph.D in Genetics), and did a postdoc at the AVRDC World Veg Center in Taiwan. Returning to Davis again she joined Monsanto Vegetable Seeds and now leads a global team that builds and runs various technologies that support breeding pipelines

Richard Hawke, Chicago Botanic Garden

Since 1986, Richard Hawke has been the Plant Evaluation Manager at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The Plant Evaluation Program is one of the largest and most diverse in the nation and received the Award for Program Excellence from the American Public Garden Association in 2008.

Richard has a horticulture degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of Plant Evaluation Notes, a Chicago Botanic Garden publication reporting the results of evaluation trials. Richard is an instructor for the School of the Chicago Botanic Garden and in 2005, received the Perennial Plant Association’s Academic Award for teaching excellence. Richard is an author and contributing editor for Fine Gardening and writes for other horticulture publications.

In 2016 he joined the AAS Council of Judges and is a Herbaceous Perennial Trial judge.

James Hearsum, Massachusetts Horticultural Society

James Hearsum started as President and Exective Director of Massachusetts Horticultural Society in January 2020. Previously, as Executive Director of St. Andrews Botanic Garden, he established a sustainable Urban Farm, Butterfly House and Community Horticulture Hub. Prior to St. Andrews, Hearsum was Curator of the Royal Botanic Garden of Jordan. A member of the Charted Institute of Horticulturists, Hearsum began his career in the UK as a working gardener and nursery manager before attending Writtle College for his undergraduate degree in Horticulture and the University of Cambridge for Practical Horticulture and Plantsmanship. He also was a participant in the Longwood Graduate Program in Public Horticulture in Kennett Square, Penn. USA.

Haldor Howard, Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City

Haldor Howard is an associate professor of Horticulture at OSU, Oklahoma City. He is the recipient of the L.E. “Dean” Stringer Award for Teaching Excellence. Haldor was recognized with the Grower of the Year award by the Oklahoma Greenhouse Growers Association. He serves on the boards of directors of the Oklahoma Nursery and Landscape Association and the Oklahoma Horticulture Society. Haldor has been an AAS Judge since 2000.

Aubrey Hymel, LSU Ag Center Botanic Gardens

Aubrey Cooper is the Landscape Supervisor at the LSU Ag Center Botanic Gardens. Her primary responsibilities are to evaluate the landscape, maintain it, and install new landscapes in the front gardens and Windrush Gardens. She is also responsible for the upkeep of the Ornamental and Turf research area on the property. She earned her Bachelors in Environmental Plant and Soil Systems in May of 2016 and has worked on the property since 2014.

Michael Jesiolowski, Rotary Botanical Gardens

As Director of Horticulture of Rotary Botanical Garden, Jesiolowski leads horticulture staff and volunteers, where they balance the creation of display gardens with building plant collections with diversity. Jesiolowski has spent most of his career at public garden institutions, previously as Garden Supervisor at Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri. At Chicago Botanic Garden, where he was Senior Horticulturist, he was responsible for the Entrance Gardens, which encompassed the Visitor’s Center, Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden, and the Regenstein Learning Campus. He created the seasonal displays in these areas, spearheaded the creation of gravel garden beds in the Parking Lots, and added hundreds of new taxa to the collection.

Jesiolowski received his formal training through the University of Illinois, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Horticulture. He also has experience working at The Morton Arboretum (Lisle, IL), Bernheim Arboretum (Clermont, KY), Epic Systems (Verona, WI), and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Annie Johannessen, West Coast Seeds

Annie graduated from the UBC Horticulture Training Program in 2017 working towards a red seal at the UBC Botanical Garden. She worked with landscaping companies at various residential and commercial sites including the Vancouver International Airport, until joining the West Coast Seeds team. She is currently working with West Coast Seeds as the Farm and Garden Coordinator where she plans and implements seed trials and beautification of the property.

James E. Klett, Colorado State University

Dr. James Klett is Professor of Landscape Horticulture and an Extension Landscape Horticulturist for Colorado State University. He has been at CSU for over 30 years and teaches in the areas of herbaceous and woody plant materials and in nursery production and management. He works directly with the Green Industry of Colorado, especially the nursery, arboriculture, garden center and landscape contractor industries. His research deals with landscape plant evaluation and introduction water requirements of landscape plants, green roofs, and other culturally related concerns with landscape plants. Jim Klett has been a Flower Judge for All-America Selections since 1999. He is currently a judge for the Ornamental Seed and Perennial Trials.

Jessie Keith, Sun Gro Horticulture

Jessie is a lifelong gardener and naturalist with family roots in both fields. In 1999 she obtained a BS degree in Public Horticulture from Purdue University, and she completed her MS in Plant Biology from Michigan State University in 2003. As a student, she completed internships at Longwood Gardens and the American Horticultural Society where she helped support plant trials. Since then, she has served as a horticultural educator, garden writer, photographer, and online horticultural communications expert for a several companies in the gardening industry. Currently, she oversees communications for the international growing media company, Sun Gro Horticulture. Jessie’s tenure as an AAS Ornamental Vegetative and Herbaceous Perennial Trial Judge began in 2019.

Mark Konlock, Green Bay Botanical Gardens

Mark Konlock holds bachleors degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison as well as in Horticulture from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls. He was a consulting engineer for 3.5 years before realizing engineering was not his passion so he returned to college to study horticulture. He served briefly as an Extension agent in Walworth County, Wisconsin; worked at a wholesale greenhouse; evaluated seed germination tests; labored on a fruit research farm; and created a yard waste recycling program in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, before taking his current position as Director of Horticulture at Green Bay Botanical Garden (GBBG) in 2005. During his tenure, the garden has expanded by 7 acres and increased the plant collection by 1,571 taxa and almost 26,000 plants. In recent years, the garden has expanded into horticultural science by becoming part of the northern Earth-Kind observational rose trial program and evaluated annual seed and vegetative crops for Ball Horticulture. Mark has judged the Wisconsin Landscape Contractors Association awards and writes one of the Hot Plant features for Wisconsin Gardening magazine.

Jenny Kuhn, C. Raker and Sons Inc.

Jenny Kuhn has spent the majority of her career at C. Raker & Sons in seed related areas. She has been involved as a seed operator, seed purchasing, marketing, sales, database management and program development. Jenny has worked in trials by evaluating and making varietal selections for Raker. Currently, she is a product specialist with an emphasis on seed propagated annuals. Items are included in their programs based on her observations of trials, work with breeding companies and customer feedback. Jenny has been a Bedding Plant and Flower Judge for All-America Selections since 2010. She is currently a judge for the Ornamental Seed Trial.

Kristine Lang, McCrory Gardens, SDSU

Kristine Lang is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Consumer Horticulture at South Dakota State University. She has worked in private-sector, university, and non-profit organizations related to horticulture throughout her career. At SDSU, Kristine is leading the development and distribution of environmentally sound best management practices for ornamental landscapes and vegetable crop production on small farms. She provides support to Master Gardeners, consumers, McCrory Gardens, and specialty crop farmers within South Dakota.

Scott Langlois, MSU South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station

Scott Langlois is the facility manager and research associate at the Mississippi State University South Miss Branch Experiment Station (SMBES) in Poplarville. Scott earned a B.S. and M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Miss State University and has worked at this location since 2004 after 17 years working at both Texas Instruments in Dallas and Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi. Scott is an avid gardener and oversees the trial gardens at the SMBES.

Rod LeDrew, Grimes Horticulture Inc

Rod received his BS in marketing from Indiana Univeristy and completed his greenhouse trade study at DuPage Horticulture School in West Chicago, IL. He managed the potted and cut chrysanthemum range in Louisville, KY before joining Pan American Plant Company to manage and relocate Super Seedlings from IL to Parrish, FL. He owned and operated a wholesale greenhouse for finished annuals in Florida before joining Grimes Horticulture where he is currently President. Rod joins AAS as an Ornamental Vegetative judge.

Keith Lewis, Burden Museum and Gardens

Keith Lewis is the Manager of the Food and Fiber research area at the Burden Museum and Botanical Gardens. His primary responsibilities are to plant, maintain, harvest and evaluate fruit and vegetable crops. Keith has been a Landscape Horticulturist since 1999. He is a member of various landscaping organizations and has earned his BS in 2001 from Louisiana State University. The year 2014 marks Keith’s first year as an Edible (Vegetable) Judge for All-America Selections.

Jessie Liebenguth, Iowa State University - Reiman Gardens

Jessie Liebenguth has a BS in Horticulture from Iowa State University. Her experience includes working with annuals and evaluating trial materials at Reiman Gardens in Ames, Iowa. She has worked extensively trialing roses at Reiman Gardens, the botanic garden of Iowa State University. Their aim is to educate the public on new and exciting developments in the world of plant genetics by including new plants in their landscape design. Jessie has been a judge for All-America Selections since 2012. She is judge for the Ornamental Seed, Perennial and Edible trials.

Joy Longfellow, Johnny's Selected Seeds

Joy grew up working in her family’s greenhouse and nursery business in central Maine where she developed a love for growing plants. She received a degree in Plant Sciences from Cornell University with a concentration in Plant Pathology and Plant Genetics and Breeding. In 2015, Joy joined the research department at Johnny’s Selected Seeds and has worked as part of the Squash and Pumpkin breeding team, as a vegetable Product Technician and most recently as the Product Technician for flowers. Joy joins AAS as an Herbaceous Perennial Judge and an Ornamental Seed Judge.

Ashley MacFarlane, Veseys Seeds Ltd

Ashley began her career at Vesey’s Seeds in 2009 where she was an assistant worker for the flower trials, planting display and ground maintenance. In 2010 she began working in the seed germination lab, she enjoyed her work at Vesey’s so much she decided to earn her horticulture certificate from the University of Guelph. In 2016 she became the Flower Horticulturalist at Vesey’s Seeds, where she continues to work with flower trials and the germination lab. Ashley is an Ornamental Seed judge.

Abigail Maynard, Connecticut Agriculture Exp Station

Abigail Maynard has a BS degree in Biology from Columbia University, a MFS degree from the Yale School of Forestry and a Ph.D in Forest Soils from Yale University. She started at The Connectictu Agricultural Experiment Station in 1981 as a summer research assistant and worked the following 8 summers until she was hired as a scientist in 1988. She continued there as an agricultural scientist until her retirement in 2021 and was awarded emeritus status. Her research at the Station included compost utilization in growing vegetables and heading up the New Crops Program, which provided new opportunities for Connecticut’s vegetable growers.

Daedre McGrath, Michigan State University

Daedre is the Annual Trial Garden Manager at Michigan State University. She instructs garden workshops and certification classes. Daedre earned her MS in Horticulture in 2012 and has an extensive background in Biology. She is currently a judge for the Ornamental Seed and Edible Trials for All-America Selections.

Penelope Merritt-Price, Young's Plant Farm

Penny received a BS and MS in Horticulture from Auburn University. She also interned at Callaway Gardens where she worked on the AAS Vegetable Trials. Penny started working as Trial Garden Coordinator for Young’s Plant Farm in 2012. She is an AAS Ornamental Seed and Ornamental Vegetative Judge.

Heather Michaelson-Hale, Tulsa Garden Center

Growing up in Tulsa, Heather Michaelson-Hale was raised with an appreciation for flowers and plants. Now that she is the Horticulturist for the Tulsa Parks and Recreation Department, that appreciation is spreading to the citizens of Tulsa. She is responsible for the design and maintenance of the display gardens within 20 municipal parks. On a mission to promote the importance of green spaces, she is focused on improving Tulsa parks by creating public gardens that are more sustainable and add enrichment to the community. Heather joins AAS as an Hebaceous Perennial judge.

Brian Minter, Minter Gardens

Brian Minter is an author, radio host, professional speaker and an avid horticulturalist. He is a member of GWA and a syndicated columnist. He received his BA from the University of British Columbia and holds an Honorary Doctorate at the University of the Fraser Valley, where he is also their Chancellor. Brian is the recipient of the Order of Canada, one of Canada’s highest honors. He chaired and hosted two major conventions in Vancouver: GWA Symposium (2005) and International Association of Garden Center Congress (2008).

Along with his wife, Faye, they co-own Minter Country Garden Store. In 2014 Brian joined the All-America Selections family of Judges as a Judge for the Vegetative Trial.

Denise Mullins, Smith Gardens

Denise has been with Smith Gardens since 2009 as Trials and Planning Manager. In this role she is responsible for choosing genetics and coordinating production planning across four greenhouse facilities on the Pacific Coast. She manages the planning of over 4,700 line items and 32 brands. With her great knowledge of genetics and eye for what works for the consumer, Denise has been selected to sit on multiple Grower Councils for big-box retailers. She is an AAS Herbaceous Perennial judge since 2016.

Denise loves to cook as she believes culinary art and horticulture go hand in hand. She is also a rock climber, skier and wake boarder. Denise has been a volunteer with several nonprofit organizations helping to build houses and clean up wilderness areas. Her interests also include wood working, painting and mosaics. In 2015, Denise was one of GPN’s 40 under 40.

Kristen Noble, Harris Seeds

Kristen’s passion for agriculture began at a young age through activity on her family’s dairy farm and home garden. She pursued an education in plant science and identified her love for horticulture and plant breeding through her studies at the State University of New York at Cobleskill and Michigan State University, where she obtained her BT and MS degrees, respectively. Kristen is currently the Vegetable Product Manager at Harris Seeds where she enjoys trialing new varieties and finding creative ways to help vegetable growers solve problems. She joins AAS as an Edible Trial Judge in 2019.

Rose Oberholtzer, Mast Young Plants

Rose is the Innovating Manager for Mast Young Plants where she has worked since earning her Bachelor’s of Horticulture at Michigan State University in 2015. While at MSU, Rose worked for the MSU Plant Sciences Greenhouse, as well as the Horticultural Demonstration Gardens. After graduation, Rose began working for Neal Mast Greenhouses, where she was a section grower for three years. Rose is a judge for the Ornamental Seed and the Ornamental Vegetative Trials.

Brett Owens, South Dakota State University

Brett Owens teaches Horticulture and is the director of the Local Foods Education Center at South Dakota State University. He received both Bachelors and Masters degrees from South Dakota State University and has been growing food for 40 years. His particular area of interest is cucurbit production and related disease/insect issues. The Local Foods Education Center has produced nearly 30 tons of fruits and vegetables which has been donated to various organizations in the community. Brett is excited about the work the AAS Trial Program does for the field and joins AAS as an Edilbe In-ground Trial and an Edible Container Trial judge.

Barbara Park, Twilley Seed Company

Barbara Park is part owner of GeoSeed Company and the Otis S. Twilley Seed Company, Inc. Her main responsibilities include managing the purchasing group, providing an informational interface between her customer service representatives and the seed suppliers, and choosing new vegetable product for Twilley. As part of the Twilley product choice, Barbara has spent the last ten years testing many of their new varieties or potential new varieties in her own home garden. Just for fun, each year she likes to challenge herself to grow one new thing she has never grown before.

George Park, GeoSeed

George Park received his BS Economics at Davidson College & MA Economics at Duke University, with additional course work auditing Plant Physiology, Genetics, and Population Genetics, He spent many summers as a youth hoeing, weeding, planting, and rooting at the family business, Park Seed. George worked at Park Seed from 1976-1988 and became an AAS Flower trial judge, an assistant to an AAS Vegetable Judge, and Director of AAS. After three years as Partner and Managing Director at K. Sahin Zaden BV in The Netherlands, George returned home and started GeoSeed in 1993 and purchased Otis S. Twilley Seed Company, Inc. in 1994.

Brent Pemberton, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center

Brent Pemberton received a B.S. in Ornamental Horticulture from Texas Tech University in 1978 and a Ph.D. in Floriculture from the University of Minnesota in 1983. He has been a project leader for Ornamental Research at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton, Texas since 1982. His current title is Professor and Regents Fellow, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University System. He is also a Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science. His research specialties include bedding plant production and greenhouse and garden performance evaluations, field and nursery production of garden roses, field evaluation of roses for disease resistance and heat tolerance, effects of heat on flowering of poinsettia, postharvest performance, and plant growth regulators. He is Chair of the Executive Board for the Texas Superstar® Program (www.texassuperstar.com). Dr. Pemberton has been performing in ground trials of annual and perennial color since 1993. Hundreds of entries are included each year in warm and cool season trials in northeast Texas which has a hot humid subtropical environment located in the northern edge of USDA Hardiness Zone 8b.

Todd Perkins, Syngenta Flowers, Inc.

Todd Perkins is a breeder with over 25 years experience at Syngenta Flowers, formerly Goldsmith Seeds located in Gilroy, CA. His significant breeding accomplishments include AAS Flower Award Winners Cleome ‘Sparkler Blush,’ Zinnia ‘Magellan Coral,’ and Zinnia ‘Zowie!’ In 2010 Todd was awarded the prestigious All-America Selections Breeders’ Cup Award. Todd has been an AAS Judge since 2002 and serves on the AAS Comparison Committee.

John Porter, Nebraska Extension in Douglas-Sarpy Counties

John Porter recently began work as the Urban Agriculture Program Coordinator for Nebraska Extension and the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Omaha, Nebraska. His position includes both extension outreach and the development and teaching of a new 2-year Urban Agriculture degree program with the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture. His position as assistant professor with NCTA also includes oversight of farm plots at the Omaha Home For Boys Cooper Memorial Farm for use in education, demonstration, and research programs. His areas of expertise include vegetable and fruit production, plant propagation, small-scale market farming, and edible landscaping. Previous to this position, he served nine years as the Ag and Natural Resources agent for West Virginia University in Charleston, WV, where he was the master gardener coordinator and developed innovative programming in the areas of urban agriculture and horticulture. He is an avid garden writer, which he shares on social media and online. He was the popular weekly garden columnist for the Charleston Gazette-Mail newspaper in West Virginia before he moved to Nebraska. He has a BS degree in Botany/Biology from Marshall University and a MS degree in Horticulture from West Virginia University.

Rachel Prescott, Ball Horticultural Co.

Rachel earned her B.S. in Horticulture Production and Management from the University of Illinois and spent a summer as a Trial Garden Intern at Ball Horticultural Company. Upon graduation, she worked for a landscaping company and later a wholesale greenhouse before accepting her position as Grounds and Garden Production Manager at Ball. Rachel combines her background of annuals, landscaping and greenhouse operations to provide an elite trial ground for the company to use as a showcase for their products. Rachel is one of our ornamental seed judges.

Shelly Prescott, State Botanical Garden of Georgia

Shelly graduated from University of Georgia with his BSA in Horticulture in 1988. He worked in the private sector before joining the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in 2005, where he is currently the Director of Horticulture. Shelly grew up helping with his family greenhouse business and is passionate about plants and plant displays. He has worked at Metrolina Greenhouses, Home Depot, Private Gardener on Sea Island, and Seasonal Color Designer/ Manager for several large landscape companies in Atlanta. Shelly oversees the AAS Display Garden at SBG and is a judge for the AAS Herbaceous Perennial Trial.

Megan Proska, Dallas Arboretum

Megan Proska is the Senior Horticulture Manager at the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Society in Dallas, Texas. Megan started out with a love for plants at an early age and started volunteering at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas when she was 12. Throughout the years she continued her love for horticulture and went on to recieve a B.S. double major in Horticulture and Entomology at Texas A&M University. After graduating she was awarded a fellowship to work at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, working in their temperate zone of the nursery for their glasshouse collections. Once back in the States Megan became a certified arborist and worked for a small tree nursery in Fort Worth. Looking to get back into public gardening she started her career at The Dallas Arboretum in 2014 as a supervisor of the Lay Family garden and advancing her career to take on the children’s garden, the trials program, and the main garden. The trials team at the Arboretum take data on over 7000 entries each year and are at the forefront of looking for the best plants to take on the hot Texas climate.

Jason Reeves, University of Tennessee Gardens

Jason Reeves became the curator of the University of Tennessee Gardens in Jackson in 2002. He received his M.S. in Ornamental Horticultural and Landscape Design in 1999 from UTK. He conducts herbaceous and woody trials for a number of companies and has been growing AAS Winner since he began in 2002. Jason joins AAS as an Herbaceous Perennial Judge.

John Ruter, University of Georgia

Dr. John Ruter teaches classes in plant identification and environmental issues in horticulture and serves as Director of the University of Georgia Trial Gardens. He completed his Ph.D. in Horticultural Science at the University of Florida in 1989. His research and extension activities are focused on nursery crop production and plant breeding and selection for the southeastern United States. Dr. Ruter has published over 400 scientific and popular articles and has received various academic awards and honors. In 2014, Dr. Ruter became a Flower Judge for All-America Selections. He is currently an Ornamental Seed Judge.

Sam Schmitz, Ball Horticultural Co.

Sam Schmitz is the Supervisor of Grounds Operations at Ball Horticultural Company since 2008. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the Gardens at Ball. His role is to monitor and care for the plants in the gardens. Sam received his bachelor and master degrees from UIUC. Sam is currently an AAS Edible Trial Judge.

Denise Schreiber

Denise Schreiber was the Greenhouse Manager and horticulturist for Allegheny County Parks for twenty seven years. She supervised growing of approximately 300,000 plants in different greenhouse locations for the county parks system. Those greenhouses produced the majority of the plants for over 12,000 acres of parkland. Denise designed the flower beds that embellished the landscape.

Besides supervising the greenhouses and plantings, Denise is a member of the GardenComm formerly known as GWA, The Association for Garden Communicators and writes monthly columns, is a national speaker and is the author of the book “Eat Your Roses.” Denise joined All-America Selections as a Bedding Plant and Flower Judge in 2014. She was a judge for the Ornamental Seed Trial and is now a judge for the Vegetative Flower Trial.

Jeremy Shafer, University of Illinois

Jeremy Shafer is the coordinator of the horticulture research farms at the University of Illinois, Crop Sciences Department. He has worked as an assistant for the AAS Edible (Vegetable) trial for eight years. He grew and helped maintain various research trials. Jeremy has a BS in forest science and a MS in natural resources and environmental sciences from the University of Illinois. For several years, Jeremy has assisted with the instruction of a vegetable growing class at one of the research farms. He has also been involved with the student sustainable research farm at the University since its inception. Jeremy supervises the management of the eight acre vegetable farm. He is an AAS Edible Trial Judge since 2016.

Alex Smith, Univ of Tennessee Dept of Plant Sciences

Alexandria began working at the UT Gardens in 2015 as a student intern with responsibilities including greenhouse maintenance and production, garden maintenance and design, and collection inventories. She joined the UT Gardens staff upon graduation in 2016 with a B.S. in Plant Sciences focusing in Public Horticulture. Her current responsibilities include plant curation and collection management, garden maintenance and horticulture research, contributing writer for print and online publications, greenhouse management, and assisting with event planning. Her interests include furthering understanding of people-plant relationships and creating spaces to encourage interaction with nature.

Erin Smith, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center

Erin Smith earned a B.S. in Horticulture in 1994 and a M.S. in Agriculture in 1995 from Stephen F. Austin State University. Erin worked as a graduate assistant for the SFASU Arboretum while earning her M.S. She currently works for Texas A&M AgriLife Research in Overton, TX as the research assistant for the ornamental horticulture program. She is responsible for organization and production of and field managment of trial plant materials including annuals, perennials, vegetables, shrubs, trees and roses as they are received for evaluation. She is also responsible for evaluations, data collection and photography of the trial materials. Erin coordinates efforts of Master Gardener volunteers regarding sowing and planting.

Jennifer Smock, Missouri Botanical Garden

Jennifer Smock has worked at Missouri Botanical Garden for over 10 years. After receiving an A.A. degree in Horticulture then a B.S degree in Agriculture Education from Northwest Missouri State, she began working at MoBot as the horticulturist in charge of the Victorian District, Herb Garden and elaborate bedding displays. She then moved into the Annual Display Designer position in charge of designing and maintaining over 30,000 annuals. Currently, she is the Supervisor of the Kemper Center for Home Gardening overseeing 5 horticulturists in charge of 23 demonstration gardens (designed to give homeowners ideas) and all of the Garden’s annual displays. Jennifer is a Herbaceous Perennial Trial Judge.