The All-America Selections Committee (A.A.S.) announced two flower winners and one bedding plant winner for 1997. According to A.A.S. judges, the bedding plant winner, Crystal White (Zinnia angustifolia) produces pure white daisy-like blooms throughout the growing season and is highly tolerant to powdery mildew and other common zinnia diseases. It is also blooms well under stressful heat conditions, which often cause heat stall or lack of flowers in other annuals. Crystal White attains a height of about 10 inches, spreads about 10 inches and is exceptional when container grown.
Gypsy is the first baby's breath (Gypsophila) to ever earn the prestigious A.A.S. flower award. An annual, Gypsy has a light airy habit similar to the perennial but scaled down to a plant 10 to 14 inches tall. Gypsy's finely textured foliage and 1/4 inch pink blooms blend perfectly into cottage gardens, especially when planted in a full sun location in the front of a bed.
The other 1997 flower award winner, Prestige Scarlet, is a new type of "Multiflora" (Celosia cristata). Prestige Scarlet will have many more deep scarlet, 3 inch velvety cockscomb blooms than others available this spring. These bright scarlet flowers need no staking and in test gardens provided an uninterrupted 15 to 20 inches high show of color all season in spite of excessive heat and periods of drought and flooding.
Both Gypsy and Prestige Scarlet can be grown from seed and will be identified as A.A.S. winners in mail-order catalogs. Garden centers will have larger plants identified by the same logo which are easily transplanted to full sunny locations in the garden.
Janis Roehr, Smith County Master Gardener
Annual & Perennial Flowers Index
Gardening Tips For Northeast Texas Index
East Texas Piney Woods Gardening Home Page