All-America Selections Display
New garden plant varieties are being developed all the time. But how can you know which ones will flourish, or offer something truly different or better?
Visit the All-America Selections Display Gardens at the Humber Arboretum to get an up-close look at new plant varieties from across North America which have been deemed “best-performing” by volunteer judges from the horticultural industry.
Selecting the Best
All-America Selections (AAS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding the best-performing new garden varieties. Since 1932 this organization has evaluated cultivars (human-created plant varieties, or “cultivated varieties”) to help gardeners of all kinds make decisions about what to plant in their own gardens.
AAS has over 100 Trial Sites across North America where seeds and cuttings submitted by breeding companies are planted next to established varieties so they can be directly compared.
There are four AAS categories:
- Seed Ornamentals (grown from seed)
- Vegetative Ornamentals (grown from cuttings)
- Edible/Vegetables from Seed
- Herbaceous Perennials
What Makes a Winner?
Depending on the category, AAS judges are looking for things like better taste, longer-lasting blooms, unique colours, more flowers per plant, or improved disease resistance. The plant has to out-perform similar, existing varieties to be declared an AAS Winner.
See the Results at the Humber Arboretum
The Humber Arboretum has been an official All-America Selections Display Garden for over two decades; now nearly 200 such gardens can be found across North America. Come to the Humber Arboretum in the late spring and summer to see some of the winning flowers and edibles from previous years.
From the Welcome Kiosk at our main entrance, follow the path that runs parallel to Arboretum Boulevard for a short walk to find the raised beds featuring AAS Ornamental winners. Look for the All-America Selections signs amongst the flowers.
You can use the QR codes on each sign or the links below to learn more about each plant on the AAS website, including information on how to grow them yourself.
AAS Selections in the 2025 Wall Bed Display Garden
Here are the plants from All-America Selections that will be in our wall garden for 2025. Watch for them blooming in mid-to-late summer.
Begonia VikingTM Explorer Rose on Green F1 growing in the Humber Arboretum in 2024.
Begonia VikingTM Explorer Rose on Green F1
2022 AAS Ornamental Winner, Gold Medal
From the AAS website:
"Prolific rose-colored flowers stand out against the glossy green foliage and do so all season long. It has a strong tolerance to heat & many diseases, as well as both wet & dry conditions."
- Annual
- Full sun, partial sun
- Normal water needs
Celosia Burning Embers growing in the Humber Arboretum in 2024.
Celosia Burning Embers
2024 AAS Ornamental Winner
"Burning Embers is a new celosia bred for its gorgeous bronze foliage with dark pink veins that contrast nicely with the vibrant pink flower plumes. Plants are well-branched and produce more flowers over a longer bloom time."
- Annual
- Full sun
- Normal water needs
Celosia Flamma Orange growing in the Humber Arboretum in 2024.
Celosia Flamma Orange
2022 AAS Ornamental Winner
From the AAS website:
"This compact variety has numerous branches, each with a strong flower plume, as well as secondary blooms, which give a long show of color in the garden."
- Annual
- Full sun
- Normal Water needs
Coleus Premium Sun Coral Candy growing in the Humber Arboretum in 2024.
Coleus Premium Sun Coral Candy
2023 Ornamental Seed Winner
From the AAS website:
"Coral Candy features unique, multicolored foliage on a uniformly compact plant. This new plant form has narrow, serrated leaves that gracefully drape down the mounded plants."
- Annual
- Sun or shade
- Normal water needs
Dahlia Black Forest Ruby image from the All-America Selections website. Look for this blooming in the Humber Arboretum later in the summer of 2025.
Dahlia Black Forest Ruby
2025 AAS Ornamental Winner
From the AAS website:
"Black Forest Ruby is a 'gem' of a plant featuring striking deep black foliage and abundant ruby-red flowers. Blooms range from semi‐double to double, enhancing its diversity and charm. This is a seed-raised variety with pinnate leaves that has impressive overall durability."
- Annual
- Full sun
- Normal water needs
Impatiens interspecific Solarscape® XL Pink Jewel F1 growing in the Humber Arboretum in 2024.
Impatiens interspecific Solarscape® XL Pink Jewel F1
2024 AAS Ornamental Winner
"Vibrant pink satiny blooms cover the mounded plants non-stop all season, adding a bright and pleasing tropical appeal to the garden."
- Annual
- Sun or shade
- Normal water needs
Marigold Mango Tango growing in the Humber Arboretum in 2025.
Marigold Mango Tango
2025 AAS Flower Winner
From the AAS website:
"Compact, vigorous plants bloom prolifically over a long flowering window to make an eye-catching display that will wow your audience."
- Annual
- Full sun, partial sun
- Normal water needs
Marigold Siam Gold F1 growing in the Humber Arboretum in 2024.
Marigold Siam Gold F1
2024 AAS Flower Winner
From the AAS website:
"Siam Gold has beautiful, mounded foliage that produces globe-like, fully double golden flowers all season long. The large flowers are held on top of sturdy stems and above the foliage for full color visibility making a striking focal point in the garden."
- Annual
- Full sun
- Normal water needs
Snapdragon DoubleShot Orange Bicolor F1 growing in the Humber Arboretum in 2024.
Snapdragon DoubleShotTM Orange Bicolor F1
2023 AAS Ornamental Seed Winner
"DoubleShot Snapdragon Orange Bicolor is part of a new series of intermediate-height snaps perfect for the garden or as cut flowers. The stunning open-faced double flowers emerge in beautiful warm shades of orange and orange-red that transition to a dusty shade as they age."
- Annual
- Full or partial sun
- Normal water needs
Snapdragon DoubleShot™ Yellow Red Heart F1 growing in the Humber Arboretum on 2025.
Snapdragon DoubleShot™ Yellow Red Heart F1
2025 AAS Ornamental Seed Winner
From the AAS website:
"The fans (the AAS Judges) of this variety loved the early blooms, healthy plants, vibrant colors, and long-lasting flowers. An additional bonus is that this snapdragon will hit you with an amazing candy-like scent!"
- Annual
- Full or Partial Sun
- Normal water needs
Sunflower Concert Bell growing in the Humber Arboretum in 2024.
Sunflower Concert Bell F1
2022 AAS Ornamental Winner
"Concert Bell puts on quite a performance with a unique flower presentation of multiple clusters of 10 to 12 flowers on an erect columnar stem. Beautiful golden yellow blooms appear earlier than the comparisons. Each plant grows to a very uniform height of 5 to 6 feet and if used as a cut flower, makes an instant, ready-made bouquet from just one cut."
- Annual
- Full sun
- Water needs dry to normal
Verbena bonariensis Vanity growing in the Humber Arboretum in 2024.
Verbena bonariensis Vanity
2022 AAS Ornamental Winner
From the AAS website:
"Not only does this type of verbena create a pollinator paradise in your garden, but also the compact habit makes it sturdier and easier to maintain."
- Annual
- Full or partial sun
- Water needs dry to normal
Verbena Sweetheart Kisses image from the All-America Selections website. Look for this blooming in the Humber Arboretum later in the summer of 2025.
Verbena Sweetheart Kisses
2024 AAS Flower Winner
From the AAS website:
"Sweetheart Kisses thrives in sun-drenched days and dry spells. Plant this versatile plant in the ground, let it grow as a stunning groundcover, or fill your containers with its cheerful blooms."
- Annual
- Full sun, partial sun
- Water needs dry to normal
Zinnia Zydeco Fire image from the All-America Selections website. Look for this blooming in the Humber Arboretum later in the summer of 2025.
Zinnia Zydeco™ Fire
2025 AAS Ornamental Winner
From the AAS website:
"The Zydeco boasts not only incredible flower power but also long-lasting blooms on disease-resistant foliage."
- Annual
- Full sun
- Normal water needs