I enjoyed the column about award-winning flowers. Are there vegetable award winners too?
Yes, both flowers and vegetables are judged by All-America Selections. The new vegetable award winners are described below. It seems that all the new award winners are peppers and broccoli.
Broccoli Purple Magic has unusual purple stems and deep purplish green florets that give it a very attractive table appearance. It has all the qualities that make it magic in the garden and on the table. Plants are cold, heat and stress tolerant, and easy to grow. It has tight uniform heads and excellent broccoli flavor. It can be eaten raw, stir-fried, roasted, lightly blanched, or steamed for the best texture. It is sweeter and more tender than traditional green broccoli. Surprise your family and friends with this one.
Broccoli Skytree is a towering hybrid which literally stands above other varieties with its upright growth. The upright 24-inch stems are easily picked. You will want to cook the stems as well as the florets. They are sweet, tender and full of flavor. Skytree is delicious no matter how you prepare it. Performed particularly well in Western trials.
Pepper Red Impact has an elongated 7-inch bell shape. This hybrid has much larger and sweeter fruits than similar varieties. It is easy to grow and produces thick, sweet walls, even when green. Red Impact plants are upright and tidy, with strong disease resistance. Fruit is dark red and highly uniform in shape and size.
Pepper Wildcat is a cayenne pepper with extra-large, 2- to 3- ounce fruits. A high-yielding plant with nice thick, fleshy walls that were thicker than comparisons. This hybrid has a great smoky flavor with peppery sweetness and a mild pungency and upright 36- to 42-inch plants. Performed particularly well in Western trials.
Pepper San Joaquin hybrid has compact, 30-inch bushy plants which produce up to 50 jalapeno fruits per plant. Higher yields than similar varieties. Perfect for canning, pickling, and making roasted, stuffed jalapenos. Unharvested fruits keep well on the plant. Equally good as more mature red fruit. Thick-walled fruits have excellent flavor with just a hint of heat.
Allen Wilson is a Vancouver gardening specialist. allenw98663@yahoo.com
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