Looking for something new for your garden this year? How about trying some of the many All American Selections (AAS) available either by seed or as plants at your favorite garden center.

In 1995 the committee selected Purple Wave [1], a petunia with superb habit, just the right plant for a mass planting cascade from a planter. Another petunia winner was Celebrity Chiffon Morn, a delicate pastel pink color with a remarkable ability to recover rapidly after a thunderstorm. To round out this trio of these winners is the extraordinary rubeckia, Indian Summer, characterized by huge blooms on stems strong enough to hold up under the most adverse conditions.

In 1996, the AAS again recognizes two petunias as winners. Also included is a Salvia.

Fantasy Pink Morn represents a new class of petunias, the millifloras, that are about two thirds the size of a normal petunia. The abundant one inch pastel pink blooms completely cover a plant that does not need mid-summer pruning to keep it from becoming untidy.

Lavender is a color rarely found among petunias, but Heavenly Lavender [2] fills the bill. The judges were impressed with the fullness of the double flowers as well as the compact branching habit of the plant.

Strata is a bi-color salvia producing flowers that exhibit a white calyx and blue corolla. This variety is heat and drought tolerant, and blooms continuously. Like its cousin, Victoria, Strata can be dried and used as an everlasting flower.

All of these varieties would be a welcomed addition to any garden setting. As you make your garden plans for this year look for the familiar AAS logo on the seed packets and in the catalog descriptions of these exceptional varieties.