The purpose of an AAS Display Garden is to showcase the most recent AAS Winners, label them appropriately and educate the public about why they are top-performing varieties. AAS has several types of gardens that are defined here.
We look for gardens who are interested in forming a partnership with All-America Selections. This includes:
Once a garden determines they would like to be involved, they must decide whether they will grow AAS flowers and edibles, AAS flowers only, or AAS edibles only.
Ideally, the AAS Winners are planted in a highly visible, high-traffic location(s) as possible. A locally publicized event during the growing season adds to the attractiveness of a garden.
Please note: gardens must be open to the public. Home gardens are not open to the public.
We encourage all gardens to continue in the AAS Display Garden program forever! We do require each garden to complete a yearly verification to commit to remaining in the program and ensuring we have correct and up-to-date information. Failure to complete the verification will remove the garden from the AAS Display Garden program.
There is no cost to become an AAS Display Garden. All-America Selections® provides the seed of Winners that are propagated from seed and plants of Winners from the Vegetative and Herbaceous Perennial trials. We provide a complimentary Display Garden sign to be placed in the garden near the AAS Winner display (or where the majority of AAS Winners are planted). The required variety markers are also provided at no cost to the Display Garden unless they choose to create their own. We do not compensate any Display Gardens as it is assumed most Display Gardens have landscape programs and that the AAS Winners can be incorporated into the landscape design.
No, AAS Winners have already been evaluated by a panel of unbiased, professional horticulturists and deemed AAS Winners. As an AAS Display Garden your role is to grow these winners in an attractive design and introduce them to the public.
We ask that you plant as many of the winners as feasible in your garden, making sure each is labeled as an AAS Winner with either a variety sign provided by AAS or one of your own creation.
No, you do not need to plant all the AAS Winners in one spot. Many gardens choose to create one display featuring all AAS Winners, while other gardens like to spread the AAS Winners throughout their grounds. We only ask that each AAS Winner is labeled with the variety name and note that it is an AAS Winner.
A weatherproof sign is sent to each garden to clearly identify each garden as an official All-America Selections® Display Garden. We ask that the sign is placed in the bed where the majority of the AAS Winners are on display. If your garden requires consistent brand signage and chooses to create their own, we ask that you use our color logo whenever possible. Variety markers accompany the AAS Winners. Although you may choose not to use AAS variety markers, we do require each All-America Selections® Winner to be clearly identified by a label that includes the variety name and designation as an AAS Winner and our color logo if possible. You can find additional informational signs on the AAS Website that are free to download and print.
Yes, you are welcome to donate, or sell, leftover seed or transplants of your AAS Winners. You can also donate or sell the produce grown from AAS Edible Winners.
The AAS Board of Directors’ policy is that entities granted Display Garden status are expected to grow and maintain their gardens in an orderly, visually-appealing fashion. These gardens may be visited by AAS Officers, Directors, and Judges during the course of the growing season. Those AAS Ambasadors are asked to make a report to the Executive Director. If at any time we feel the garden is not living up to our standards, a conversation with that garden will take place to plan improved participation in our program.
AAS Winners