BREAKING: The highly anticipated new award-winning flowers and vegetables for 2026 have just been announced by the All-America Selections (AAS). This annual reveal highlights innovative plant varieties that excel in performance, flavor, and beauty, providing gardeners with exciting new options for their gardens.
Each year, AAS evaluates numerous entries and awards those that significantly outperform existing varieties. This year’s selections promise to transform gardens with their vibrant colors, resilience, and unique features. The AAS logo, marked by its iconic red, white, and blue design, is a trusted sign of quality for gardeners everywhere.
Here are the latest standout AAS winners for 2026:
Coreopsis SunGlobe boasts brilliant golden yellow, semi-double flowers that bloom from early summer through fall. Standing at just 12 inches tall, this perennial is perfect for borders and containers, thriving in flower beds across Zones 3 and 4.
The Dianthus Supra Cherry Picotee captivates with its unique picotee blooms, featuring dark cherry centers surrounded by soft pink edges. This compact annual reaches 12 inches high and wide, offering heat and drought tolerance without the need for deadheading, ensuring continuous color throughout the growing season.
Another highlight, Heliopsis Sole Giatto, offers a robust 20-inch tall display of bright yellow blooms that attract pollinators while resisting deer and rabbits. This perennial is winter-hardy in Zones 3 and 4, making it an excellent addition to any landscape.
For early-season color, Rudbeckia Claire Orange delivers an abundance of bright orange flowers with a tidy growth habit, reaching 12 inches in height. Judges praised its exceptional heat and disease tolerance, making it ideal for both containers and flower beds.
The Zinnia Profusion Double White Improved stands out with its large, pure white blooms that resist discoloration, even in the heat of summer. Compact and disease-resistant, these plants grow to 14 inches high and spread 20 inches wide, perfect for showcasing in gardens or containers.
On the vegetable side, Kale Rubybor breaks new ground as a dual-award winner in both ornamental and vegetable categories. Its striking deep purple foliage remains tender and non-bitter, allowing for a continuous harvest of high-quality greens.
Another must-try is the Tomato BadaBing, which features bright red fruits approximately 1.5 inches in diameter, renowned for their exceptional flavor and disease resistance.
Additionally, gardeners can look forward to the Winter Squash Butter Lamp, a mini butternut squash that produces sweet, nutty fruits while taking up less space than traditional varieties, making it perfect for small gardens.
Finally, the Pole Bean Majesty offers high yields of uniform, delicious beans and demonstrates strong resistance to insect damage, making it essential for vertical gardening.
With these exciting new varieties, the 2026 gardening season promises to be vibrant and fruitful. Enthusiasts are encouraged to check local garden centers and seed catalogs for these award winners, which carry the AAS seal of approval.
Stay tuned for more updates as gardening experts share tips on how to integrate these new plants into your garden, ensuring you get the most out of this year’s growing season. Now is the time to prepare for a blooming 2026!
