Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County has operated an official display garden for All-America Selections winners since 1985.

All-America Selections, an educational non-profit association serving the bedding plant industry and home gardeners, annually selects new flowers as All-America Selections winners.

The selections are made by judges who evaluate the varieties at a series of trial gardens. They judge the flowers on criteria such as attractiveness and time of bloom, color, fragrance, resistance to diseases and insects and length of flowering period.

After the selections are made, packages of seeds of the winners are sent to the regional display gardens for further evaluation and public and industry awareness. Many additional varieties from cooperating seed companies are also displayed and evaluated at the CCE site. Varieties that are rated highly are added each year to our Suggested Annual Flower Varieties list (Fact Sheet A-2-23).

The CCE Nassau County display garden, located near the Environmental Horticulture office in Eisenhower Park, is maintained by volunteer Master Gardeners. These volunteers work in three groups: seed sowing and growing, bed preparation and planting, and aftercare and evaluation. Maintenance is done at the level approximating the normal home garden so all varieties may not always look their best.

We are sure that you will enjoy your self-tour when you visit the Eisenhower Park garden. Peak bloom time is between mid-late June until September. A map of the gardens is available on the site in the mailbox. We hope you’ll meet and speak to some of Master Gardeners who make the garden so successful.