All America Selections for 2025 – Part II

- Patricia Hanbidge

February 2, 2025

key points from this story:

• AAS tests new plant varieties for home gardeners
• Snapdragon DoubleShot™ Yellow Red Heart F1 introduced
• Two zinnia varieties win AAS recognition
• Kohlrabi Konstance F1 offers longer harvest window
• Cauliflower Murasaki Fioretto 70 F1 has purple florets
• Basil Piedmont shows exceptional Downy Mildew Resistance

All America Selections (AAS) is a non-profit trialling organization that tests new, never-before-sold varieties of plants for the home gardener. Last week we covered some of the All America Selections 2025 ornamental winners and now we move onto my favourites – the edible plants that also add beauty to your garden. Snapdragon DoubleShot™ Yellow Red Heart F1 is the prettiest snapdragon ever! You may remember her sister Orange Bicolor from 2023. Both snaps bloom early and hold up extremely well through the hottest summer heat. This beautiful double, intermediate height snap is perfect for the garden or as a cut flower. Yellow Red Heart also has a lovely candy-like scent. Two zinnias made the list this year. Zinnia Crestar mix is the best aof crested zinnias known for their distinctive semi-double blooms with a pronounced central disc. Colours of pink, orange, red, white peach and yellow in a stunning display for your garden or as cuts. The Zydeco Zinnia™ Fire has fiery orange fully double long-lasting blooms on disease resistant foliage. For those that are kohlrabi fans Konstance F1 gives a longer harvest window and is a beautiful purple colour with smooth skin. The bulbs are crack resistant and the leaves are highly flavourful roasted or sautéed when they are young and tender.

Cauliflower Murasaki Fioretto 70 F1 is a culinary and visual delight. With vibrant purple florets and long, tender stems with a sweet, mild flavour that are easy to harvest. This is one to grow and enjoy. It has a compact habit, early maturity and excellent field holding capacity. Basil Piedmont brings the flavours of Italy home to your garden. It has exceptional Downy Mildew Resistance meaning weeks of extra harvest and forms a dense, bushy plant. This might become my favourite basil to grow!

Pepper Pick-N-Pop Yellow F1 grows cute, snack-sized mini peppers that are extra sweet. The plant is moderate sized with outstanding bacterial leaf spot resistance while producing a prolific number of canary yellow, uniformly shaped peppers. Squash Green Lightning F1 is early, fast and is pretty enough to use as a decoration! When cooked, it has a nice robust flavour and the rind is medium and light green. Another favourite for the garden. Another squash made the list as well. Squash Thriller F1 brings psychedelic colour patterns that matures in 75 to 80 days from planting. The semi-bush plants of the 1 to 2-pound dumpling squash with shallow vertical ridges that alternate between a variegated cream and green with a bit of bright orange built in.

The last veggie winner is Tomato Tonatico F1. This high-yield cherry tomato is delicious, has great texture, less fruit splitting and great disease resistance. In the trials, judges were very pleased with the superior sepals and pedicels, the taste and texture, and the uniform fruit clusters that held on long, easy-to-harvest trusses. Venture out and try something new when it comes to cherry tomatoes! It is indeterminate, but the fruit forms on long, easy to harvest trusses.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about the AAS Winners of 2025. If you are interested in other winners from the previous years just have a look at https://all-americaselections.org/. AAS was founded in 1932 and the first winners were shared with the world in 1933.