All America selections for 2026 part II

- Patricia Hanbidge

January 6, 2026

key points from this story:

• All America Selections announces winners
• Focus on 2026 ornamental plant varieties
• Plants tested by horticultural professionals
• Coreopsis Sunglobe offers season long colour
• Rudbeckia Claire Orange is pollen free
• Find winners at all-americaselections.org

All America selections 2026 part I

Patricia Hanbidge introduces the first group of All America Selections 2026 edible plant winners, highlighting top performers for home gardeners.

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All America Selections (AAS) is a non-profit trialing organization that tests new, never-before-sold varieties of plants for the home gardener. Read on for the results after a full season of anonymous trialling by volunteer horticultural professionals. Only the top garden performers are given the AAS Winner award designation for their superior performance. The AAS Winner label is like a stamp of approval as their mission is to promote new garden varieties with superior garden performance. Their tagline “Tested Nationally and Proven Locally®” most definitely says it all.

The 2026 winners will be available for purchase for the gardening season as supply becomes available. It is sometimes difficult to get the seed or the plants desired when the winners are just announced but if you go to the All America Selections website, they list the seed houses that sell seed of the winning plants. Check out the following link for more information https://all-americaselections.org/buy-winners/. Last week, we covered some of the All America Selections 2026 edible winners and now we move onto the ornamental winners.

Coreopsis Sunglobe brings brilliant, season-long colour to all the sunny spots in your garden. Producing tons of fluffy, golden yellow, semi-double flowers on sturdy stems, this tidy plant will deliver multiple flushes of vibrant gold from spring through fall.

Dianthus Supra Cherry Picotee F1 will give your garden an unparalleled display of colour. This interspecific hybrid delivers eye-catching blooms on a compact but bushy plant. It is heat and drought resistant and takes little care for the colour it delivers - including deadheading.

Heliopsis Sole Giatto will bring sunshine to your garden in containers or borders. It is approximately 20 inches (50 centimetres) in height and spread and throughout the season will effortlessly attract beneficial pollinators while resisting deer and rabbits. It is rated zone 3 to 8 so in a sheltered location or with some snow will be perennial in nature.

Rudbeckia Claire Orange F1 is the first pollen-free F1 hybrid Rudbeckia! It is exceptionally vigorous, has impressive floriferousness and great heat and disease tolerance. It literally transforms your garden with effortless cheer.

Sedum Spectacular grown from seed delivers rock-solid garden performance. These sturdy, full and non-flopping plants will give your garden excellent vigor and uniformity in both height and spread. It produces bright light pink flower clusters on a light green foliage ensuring it is a focal point in your garden.

Zinnia Profusion Double White features impressive, large, double flowers that create a lush, almost tropical look. No deadheading is necessary for this fourteen-inch-high (one third of a metre) plant that spreads to about 20 inches in width (about a half metre). Season long beauty will grace your garden with this Zinnia.

All the best to you and yours in 2026.