Every winter when dreaming of your garden and wondering which new plants to include, one method for choosing best plants that will grow in your area is to check out which plants have been voted or chosen as the best plants for this year or past years in the US. For these plants, look at plants that have won the prestigious Gold Medal Plant Awards. The plants that are chosen must exhibit standards of excellence in disease resistance, ease of growing in your area and beauty. The judges look at all of the plant, not just its flowers.
Where does one go for the Gold Medal Plant Award list?
Here is a a partial list of sites for these lists:
1) The United States National Arboretum http://www.usna.usda.gov/Newintro/awards.html
2) The Pennsyvanial Horticultural Society http://www.goldmedalplants.org/default.aspx
3) State Botanical Gardens of Georgia http://www.georgiagoldmedalplants.org/
4) Cornell Cooperative Extension http://ccesuffolk.org/gold-medal-plant-awards-307/
5) The Charleston Horticultural Society http://www.chashortsoc.org/
When going to a nursery to buy a plant, if the plant has won a Gold Medal Plant Award, the tag on the plant will specify that it is a winner.
For gardeners who live in England and want to know about award winning plants in your country, you should attend the annual HTA National Plant Show. The HTA National Plant Show will take place on Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 June 2013 at Stoneleigh Park, near Coventry.
Awards are given by ProVar: Protected Varieties LTD For a list of top plants and breeders or nurseries go here.