AAS Breeder’s Cup

The All-America Selections Breeders Cup was established in 2004 to recognize a plant breeder who dramatically influenced horticulture by breeding new cultivars that brought significant improvements to those classes. All-America Selections is very proud to announce that the 2020 Breeder’s Cup Award recipient is Dr. Jianping (Ping) Ren, Sr. Plant Breeder at PanAmerican Seed Co. With 2020 being the 25^th anniversary of Wave petunias, the timing of this award is quite significant and memorable.

Ping Ren earned her Ph.D. from the Plant Breeding Department at Cornell University where she worked on vegetable breeding two years before joining the flower industry.

Ping joined PanAmerican Seed in 2001 as a flower plant breeder. For the past 20 years, Ping has worked on Petunia, Calibrachoa, Gaillardia and Echinacea. There is a long list of about 150 vegetative and seed propagated varieties coming from Ping’s breeding, a number of which are the recipients of horticultural industry awards including All-America Selections.

The six varieties that have won AAS awards are: the first F1 Gaillardia Mesa Yellow (2010), Echinacea PowWow Wild Berry (2011), Cheyenne Spirit (2013), Sombrero Baja Burgundy (2019), Petunia Tidal Wave Red Velour (2015) and Wave Carmine Velour (2018). Many of these varieties have also earned multiple other industry awards.

In addition, Ping’s co-invention of the petunia green corolla (gc) allele gene has been broadly used in petunia breeding across the industry, resulting in the introduction of numerous unique colors of petunia associated with the gc allele. Ping’s outstanding work has significantly benefited and influenced our flower industry.

In recent years, Ping’s breeding has focused on Wave Petunia, Sombrero / Double Scoop and Artisan Echinacea.

Ping reports that she really enjoys her work and is always excited to develop new flowers that can add beauty to the world. She is extremely grateful for the encouragement, support, and teamwork from all her colleagues and friends who continue to enable her success. Finally, she wants to thank her family, especially her Mom, as all of her accomplishments are from her mom’s love and sacrifice.

“We feel very fortunate to have Ping Ren as a breeder at PanAmerican Seed. She has bred so many amazing products and has inspired and motivated everyone around her with her hard work, drive and creativity. She sets the bar for flower breeding very high indeed!” ~ PanAmerican President Anne Leventry

“It’s a great pleasure working with Ping in the Wave program. She is passionate, creative and always keeps first-of-mind that the products fulfill the promise of the Wave Brand performance. Her striving for excellence and the high expectations she sets for herself is motivation for those of us who have the good fortune to work with her. The AAS Breeder’s Cup is a well-deserved recognition for Ping.” ~ PanAmerican Seed Portfolio Manager Lisa Lacy