This 'n That Thursdays: Even More 2017 Garden Plant Picks of the Year

AAS display garden in Meredith, NH (from Pinterest).

This week I return to listing more 2017 garden plant picks of the year, and there are still so many to cover!  I will focus on plants chosen by All-America Selections, a North American non-profit plant-trialing organization which annually selects the best new flower and vegetable varieties to try both regionally and nationally.  Today's list includes the AAS national picks for flowering plants.  Without further ado, here is the list:

1) Celosia 'Asian Garden' - this pollinator-friendly annual with spiky rose-colored flower stalks keeps blooming all summer long.

2) Dianthus 'Interspecific Supra Pink F1' - a compact, bushy annual with mottled pink flowers that resist heat and drought, and require no deadheading!

3) Geranium 'Calliope Medium Dark Red' - this mounding annual with deep red velvety flowers is especially attractive in containers.

4) Verbena 'Endurascape Pink Bicolor' - a sturdy spreading annual with pink bicolored flowers, this verbena is the first to tolerate heat and drought as well as survive temperatures down into the low teens!

5) Vinca 'Mega Bloom Orchid Halo F1' - one of two AAS national award-winning vincas for 2017, this disease-resistant and early-blooming annual has huge purple flowers with white centers.

6) Vinca 'Mega Bloom Pink Halo F1' - this second award-winning vinca has all the same characteristics of the first one, but its large flowers are pink with white centers rather than purple.

7) Zinnia 'Profusion Red' - 'Profusion' zinnias are one of my favorite annuals, and now it finally comes in red, my favorite color!  The plants are compact and disease-resistant, and the flowers, a fade-resistant, vibrant true red, start early and bloom all summer long.

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Be sure to check here for 2017 AAS regional winners as well (you can sort by your region to find plants that grow especially well in your area).  Next week we will take a look at the AAS national winners for vegetables, and not a moment too soon as it won't be long before the danger of frost has passed and those seeds or seedlings will need to get into the ground!