One way I know a plant could work well in my garden is that I look for the red, white and blue logo of All-America Selections on seed packets, on bedding plant tags or in catalogs. Even AAS winners from several years ago are more likely to prove successful than nonwinners.
The AAS testing program is an independent nonprofit organization that tests new plants. They have about 80 test gardens from Alaska and Canada to California and Florida. They also have almost 200 display gardens all across the continent that are used not for judging but to show gardeners how well the plants grow locally.
Today we will cover all the 2025 flower trial winners. Next week we will finish with the vegetable plant winners.
Dahlias are very popular flowers. Dahlia Black Forest Ruby will be a very sought-after plant. The leaves are as close to black as you can get, and the 3-inch wide flowers are a standout ruby red. Growing to 2 feet tall, they don’t flop over, and they are very disease-resistant. Grow them in a container or maybe in your goth garden.
I have never been fond of dianthus flowers, but I might have to try this one. Capitan Magnifica grows 12-18 inches tall with 2-inch pink and white flowers. It doesn’t stop blooming in hot weather like other dianthus varieties. If it does slow down, just shear the plant and it will reward you with more flowers.
Marigold Mango Tango has two colors dancing on each flower head. Each petal is red in the center with a bright yellow edge. At only 8 inches tall, they can be planted at the front edge of a flower bed or in a tabletop flowerpot.
Triplets are born in the Nasturtium Baby Series. Baby Gold, Baby Red, and Baby Yellow join Baby Rose as 12-inch mounds of flowers perfect for edible gardens, containers, or small gardens in need of color. Both the leaves and flowers have a peppery taste that you can enjoy in salads and stir fries.
For many gardeners, it wouldn’t be summer without petunias. There were two winners this year. Petunia Dekko Maxx Pink has a compact habit that stays covered in pure pink flowers. In the trial gardens, it held up well even in heavy rain areas.
Petunia Shake Raspberry has flowers that mix raspberry and lemon-lime green sorbet for an eye-catching display.
Snapdragon Yellow Red Heart is exactly that—red centers to yellow flowers. The flowers are longer lasting than many snapdragon varieties, and they take the heat better too. It can grow in containers or the cut flower garden as the flowers are nicely scented.
Hopefully, your fire department won’t see your flower bed of Zinnia Zydeco(tm) Fire plants. The flowers are larger than many zinnias and bright fiery orange. The 2-foot plants will attract a lot of attention, so plant a lot of them for maximum effect.
