News
Canadian winners in the AAS Display Garden Contest

Oct. 14, 2013, Downers Grove, IL — Agriculture Canada's Ornamental Gardens in Ottawa nabbed a first place finish in the All-America Selections Landscape Design Contest.

The "Disc and That" themed garden, which won in the 10,001 to 100,000 visitors per year category, featured the Alsteraceae family of flowers, including AAS winners Echinacea and gaillardia, as well as Ornamental Millet 'Purple Majesty' and 'Foxy' Foxglove. The bed numbered a total of 1,295 plants, including 1,053 AAS winners.

Canada also landed a third place finish in this category. Jardin Daniel A Seguin, of Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., created a garden with 21 varieties of AAS winners, beautifully planted in circular beds around a fountain focal point. Student groups were responsible for maintaining the garden and promoting the display garden and AAS winners to the general public as well as to the garden's visitors.

The full list of winners includes:

Fewer than 10,000 visits per year

• First place: LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens (Baton Rouge, La.)
• Second place: University of Wisconsin Sponsor Ag Research Station, Teaching and Display Garden (Spooner, Wis.)
• Third place: Meredith Public Library Garden (Meredith, N.H.)
• Honourable mention for most educational garden: ISU Polk County Master Gardener's Demonstration Garden (Urbandale, Ia.)

Between 10,001 and 100,000 visitors per year

• First place: Agriculture Canada Ornamental Gardens (Ottawa, Ont.)
• Second place: Arboretum State Botanical Garden of Kentucky, University of Kentucky (Lexington, Ken.)
• Third place: Jardin Daniel A Seguin (Saint-Hyacinthe, Que.)

More than 100,000 visitors per year

• First place: Rotary Botanical Gardens (Janesville, Wis.)
• Second place: Denver Botanic Gardens (Denver, Colo.)
• Third place: Kentucky Exposition Center (Louisville, Ken.)

The All-America Selections Landscape Design Contest is a landscape design contest incorporating AAS winners, past and present. Each garden is responsible for creating and executing the design, generating publicity surrounding the contest and then submitting the photos, proof of publicity and an overall description of their design.

All entries in the contest were judged by a panel that included:

• Jeff Gibson, landscape business manager for Ball Horticultural Company
• Bruce Hellerick, senior horticulture specialist for The Brickman Group
• Susan Schmitz, trials and education manager for Ball Horticultural Company
• Barbara Wise, author and director of Floriculture for Landscape Services, Inc.

A complete collection of photos from all contest entrants can be found on the All-America Selections Flickr and Facebook accounts.

To learn how to participate in the 2014 contest, contact Diane Blazek at dblazek@aas-ngb.org.