All-America Selections is a non-profit organization that promotes new garden seed varieties through impartial trials across North America. Breeders can enter new cultivars in categories like flowers, vegetables, and bedding plants to be judged by professional horticulturists at over 100 trial sites. Judges score each entry on a scale from 0 to 5 based on comparisons to existing varieties. Varieties that receive high scores and meet introduction criteria are named AAS Winners and their information is distributed to seed companies, retailers, and consumers through a publicity program that includes display gardens showing past winners.

1. What is All-America Selections?

2. “A non-profit organization that promotes new garden seed varieties judged to have superior garden performance in impartial trials throughout North America.”

3. AAS continues as the oldest, most established international testing organization in North America.

4. Entries Breeders enter new, never-before-sold cultivars to be judged in one of four categories: Flower Bedding Plant Vegetable Cool Season Bedding Plant

5. AAS Trials Sites Flower – 37 sites in U.S. and Canada Bedding Plant – 26 sites in U.S. and Canada Vegetable – 27 sites in U.S. and Canada Cool Season Bedding Plant – 22 sites in U.S. and Canada

7. Seasoned trialing experts

8. Unpaid – they volunteer their time

9. Unbiased - cannot judge entries from their own company

11. Introduction Criteria Breeder gives the variety a marketing name Breeder submits publicity photos Has seed-in-the-bag Gone through germination testing Product is priced and ready to ship

13. Distribution chain

14. Growers

15. Retailers

16. Garden Writers

18. Publicity Program Preview Gardens Select garden writers/bloggers grow and evaluate the past five years of AAS Winners in their own gardens then are able to write about garden performance first hand.