This week on In the Garden with UC Master Gardeners, we look at award-winning cultivars that will be available in local garden centers this year! Tune in to hear your host, Master Gardener Bill Brooks, interview Diane Blazek, Executive Director of the National Garden Bureau (NGB). NGB is a non-profit organization pivotal in the establishment of Victory Gardens in the US during WWII.
Together, Bill and Diane will excite your mind's eye through radio of some of this year's delectable NEW plants! There are two competitions discussed this hour – All-America Selections and Green Thumb Awards – sponsored by NGB. Learn what plants (in ALL categories) tick all the boxes for expert judges and gardeners worldwide, respectively. How about a Petunia hybrid that'll transport you to the rainforest or an Echeveria house plant variety that takes your thoughts to an undersea coral reef?
Other Interesting cultivars for 2024 include Broccoli Purple Magic which is not only tasty but is a beautiful purple in color. Celosia Burning Embers has bronze foliage and a flower that resembles the embers of a campfire plus, has the largest and longest lasting bloom of any other celosia trialed according to many of the judges. Impatiens Solarscape® grow well in Orange County Zone 10 a and b sunshine and this year's winner is called XL Pink Jewel with iridescent pink flowers. There's a cucumber variety that grows only two feet tall and yields handfuls of cocktail-sized cucumbers. It's called Cucumber Quick Snack, one of the Kitchen Mini ™ Collection, and it will grow indoors. And lastly, an Agapanthus that will surely turn heads is the Lily of the Nile Blackjack ™, a cultivar that has a purple to almost black blooms. More of the winners can be found at https://all-americaselections.org and https://ngb.org.
Learn more and listen to "In The Garden" radio show podcasts.
Podcast Topic: All-America Selections and Green Thumb Winners for 2024
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