Continuing winners for 2014

Details

Published on Sunday, January 18, 2015

By Patricia Hanbidge

Saskatoon School of Horticulture Principal

Last week we featured some of the All America Selections (AAS) winners and this week will include a few more flowers and then vegetables; please enjoy!

AAS is the place to go for the next best thing to guaranteed success in your garden. AAS has celebrated more than75 years of providing plants to gardeners that are tested nationally and proven locally.

Angelonia Serenita Pink F1 is an easy-to-grow elegant flower that is perfect for beginner gardeners. Grown in a group, it creates a soothing sea of soft colour that is tolerant to heat and resistant to deer and rabbits. It will grow 12-14 inches tall and wide.

Penstemon Arabesque Red F1 is an essential annual for your garden! It is unique, vigorous and shows off a beautiful red and white bicoloured large bell-shaped flowes. It attracts both butterflies and hummingbirds all summer long. Plant in full sun and remove spent flowers to encourage continuous flowering.

Ornamental Pepper NuMex Easter is a compact, but well-branched plant that proudly displays small clusters of fruits that range from lavender to light yellow and mature fully to a light orange. It is an excellent choice for pots, on patios or for outdoor use. 

Bean Mascotte is the first winning bean for the past 23 years and is perfect for gardeners today who are busy and garden in small spaces. This compact bush bean has showy white flowers and is a plentiful producer of long slender pods that make for easy harvesting as the beans stay well above the foliage.

There are two cucumber winners for 2014. Cucumber Pick a Bushel F1 is an excellent heat-tolerant cuke that is perfect for pickling either gherkins or larger. These semi-bush plants are also rather delectable fresh. Cucumber Saladmore Bush F1 is mature only 55 days after sowing. They are crisp and sweet, as long as you keep up with the picking, and are also versatile as small or large pickles. 

Eggplant Patio Baby F1 is an early but very productive eggplant with a gardener-friendly compact habit. The leaves and calyx are thornless so are perfect for your little helpers in the garden. Harvest at two to three inches diametre for the best flavour. 

Pepper Giant Ristra F1 is a bright red, super hot chili pepper that looks great in the garden and even better dried on a string for cooking throughout the winter. Fresh, roasted or dried, this is a great pepper to grow. 

If you have children or grandchildren, try Pumpkin Cinderella's Carriage F1 for a fairy tale-type pumpkin. They are bright reddish-orange, robust and vigorous. The pumpkin shape resembles the carriage from the fairy tale and some lucky gardens will also experience pale blue pumpkins in their patch. 

Radish Rivoli is an upright uniform radish which is perfect to harvest at about 1.5 inches in diametre. The outside is a bright red with an interior that is smooth; it has great taste as long as it is picked before it gets too large.

Three tomatoes made the list this year. Tomato Chef's Choice Orange F1 is a hybrid derived from the popular heirloom Amana Orange, only this tomato is ready in 75 days from transplanting. Tomato Fantastico F1 is a must for anyone wishing an early maturing, high yielding grape tomato. The fruit is also easy to pick as it is held to the outside of the plant. Last but definitely not least is Tomato Mountain Merit F1, a superior tomato perfect for slicing and sandwiches grown on a compact, uniform plant. 

Hanbidge is a horticulturist with the Saskatoon School of Horticulture and can be reached at 306-931-GROW(4769) or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Enrol now for distance courses leading to a diploma or a certificate; study in the comfort of your own home! The Target Certificate in Horticulture Program helps you gain the skills and education to work in the field of horticulture. Our graduates are recognized by the industry as superb additions to help their horticultural business grow. Please contact us for further information or visit our website at saskhort.com. Like us on Facebook at Saskatoon School of Horticulture or follow us on Twitter @horticulturepat.