Three flowers and one vegetable have been named All America Selection (AAS) winners for 2007. Winners are selected after intense evaluation at trial gardens throughout the United States. Winners are awarded for displaying unique qualities such as early flowering, a different color, plant shape and size, or disease and insect resistance.

Celosia 'Fresh Look Gold' is the AAS flower award winner. Correctly named, these plants look as fresh in September as they did when planted in the spring. 'Fresh Look Gold' plants are embellished with bright golden plumes that remain colorful all season, not "browning" with maturity. Since the plumes remain attractive, no deadheading is needed; and, no pest problems are expected. This carefree annual is useful in formal or informal gardens. 'Fresh Look Gold' proved to be tolerant to heat, humidity, and rain in AAS trials across North America. Plants will grow to a height of 1 foot. This celosia is one of the best annuals for season-long performance.

Petunia F1 'Opera Supreme Pink Morn' is one of two bedding plant winners. Iridescent pink blooms are the unique feature of this vigorous trailing petunia. A silvery shine causes blooms to shimmer, capturing an admirer's attention from a distance. The 2˝-inch flowers are pink, shading to creamy white in the center, with a yellow throat. 'Opera Supreme Pink Morn' plants have many qualities that every gardener wants to find. Plants are continuously flowering. This spreading quality covers garden soil and can choke weeds beautifully. Plants attain a height of only 4 to 6 inches. 'Opera Supreme Pink Morn' can be relied on for exceptional garden performance without pruning or deadheading.

Vinca 'Pacifica Burgundy Halo' is the second bedding plant winner. It is the first vinca with a burgundy halo surrounding a large white center. This bi-color bloom is exceptionally visible in an annual garden. Early flowering with a well balanced plant form, 'Pacifica Burgundy Halo' is recommended for spring or summer plantings. With proven heat and drought tolerance, its performance is assured. In a full sun garden, these vinca plants will reach 1 foot tall and wide when mature. Due to the ease of growing and continuous flowering, this plant is suitable for any garden or patio planters that receive sun. And because vinca needs less water than other annuals, planting 'Pacifica Burgundy Halo' in containers means fewer trips with the hose to water. Gardeners can rely on 'Pacifica Burgundy Halo' to provide color all summer without pinching or plant maintenance.

Pepper F1 'Holy Molé' is the vegetable winner. 'Holy Molé' is the first hybrid pasilla-type pepper which is used to make the famous molé sauce. 'Holy Molé' showed improved vigor, earliness, and considerably higher yield than the comparisons in side-by-side trials. The immature green peppers are 7 to 9 inches long and can be harvested in about 85 days from transplanting. If fruit is left on the plant, they will mature to a dark chocolate color. The pepper flavor is nutty and tangy. Mature plants are 3 feet tall; a perfect size for patio containers. 'Holy Molé' is easily grown in a sunny location and thrives on summer heat.

Granted, there are occasions when a branch or several branches may need to be removed from a tree due to damage or weakness. And, there are correct pruning methods to do this. However, tree topping is not an acceptable practice for the health, beauty, and long-term care of a tree. Ultimately, topping cuts short the lifespan of a tree.

The needed balance between the roots and canopy is altered by topping. The leaves are the food- making part of the tree. Therefore, removal of too many branches and leaves reduces the tree's ability to perform photosynthesis. The random and excessive removal of the tree's crown will cause a reduction of roots because there is not enough food-making ability to support the root system.

In response to the topping, the tree will sprout new growth from the cuts in an attempt to continue photosynthesis. Or put another way, the tree will try to feed itself. However, these shoots, also called watersprouts, are attached to the surface of the cut and are not firmly anchored within the tree. These watersprouts are weak and hazardous. As they continue to grow, they are highly susceptible to breaking during wind and ice storms. They are also more likely to just snap and break off than the original branch ever was.

Trees compartmentalize wounds, and branch cuts 2 inches and larger are slow to heal. Depending on the time of year, these wounds may increase the chances of a tree attracting harmful insects and developing fungal decay.

Sunscald may also occur on the unprotected, exposed bark. It can lead to the tree developing disease cankers. To make an analogy, picture yourself going to the beach in early summer and not applying sunscreen. What would happen by the end of the day? Some species of trees, for example, maple (Acer spp.) and crabapple (Malus spp.) have thin bark, which makes them even more susceptible to sunscald.

Tree topping is just unsightly. Branch stubs, pruning scars, and watersprouts take away from a tree's natural shape and beauty. A topped tree will grow back to its original height, but its shape and form have been forever damaged. Why is this important? A properly planted and maintained landscape can add as much as 15 percent to a home's value.

Trees are often topped as an attempt to reduce their size. This may be the result of poor species selection, incorrect placement, or general fear that a tree will fall over during a storm. All trees have an approximate height and width. Make sure you know the tree's mature size before planting it in a location. Furthermore, it is unusual for a tree to fall over for no reason. Those trees that do are typically older and unhealthy due to mechanical injuries, insects, or fungal decay.

If you inherited from a previous landowner a tree that is too large for a location, your best option is to have the tree removed and select an appropriate species for the location. Over the long haul, you will be doing your pocketbook a favor as opposed to having the existing tree cut back every few years. A good general rule is that if a tree needs to be pruned every five years or less, the tree is too large for that location.

Unfortunately, there are tree services that continue to offer tree topping. If a tree service recommends tree topping, select a different company. Look for a tree service that has membership in a professional organization such as the Illinois Arborist Association, International Society of Arboriculture, or the National Arborist Association. Finally, make sure the arborist is bonded or insured, and ask for references.

Winter is a period of dormancy for most insects that overwinter in a variety of ways. Most insects seek protected places where they are not exposed to predators or repeated freezing and thawing. Bumblebees, hornets, yellow jackets, willow leaf beetles, and some lady beetles overwinter as adults under the loose bark of trees.

Other lady beetles, squash bugs, and most leafhoppers overwinter as adults in fallen leaves and other debris on the ground. Fall webworms and pine sawflies use the same place to overwinter as pupae. Grasshoppers and earwigs overwinter as eggs that are laid in the soil during the preceding fall. Tomato hornworms also spend the winter in the soil, but in the pupal stage. Eggs frequently spend the winter on the outside surfaces of plants. Eastern tent caterpillar, gypsy moth, praying mantis, and aphid eggs winter on bark surfaces, as do immature Zimmerman pine moth and scale insects.

Insects that spend the winter inside plant tissue usually do so in the immature stage. European corn borers winter inside corn stubble, and bark beetles remain in tree bark. Most aquatic insects such as mayflies, dragonflies, and diving beetles overwinter as immature insects near the bottom of ponds and streams where the water doesn't freeze.

Monarch butterflies go south for the winter, returning in the spring. Other insects that cannot survive our winters re-populate each year from the southern U.S. Corn earworms, potato leafhoppers, black cutworms, and greenbugs are blown up from the south each year.

Some insects remain active year-round, becoming dormant only in very cold weather. Honey bees, ground beetles, ants, termites, and cockroaches are active during the winter, particularly on warm days.

The internet is a great resource for answering all kinds of lawn and garden questions. University websites provide reliable, research-based information. Other websites such as the All America Selections site and the National Garden Bureau also offer accurate information.

Check out these sites .... You might even want to bookmark them in your web browser for easy access.

University of Illinois Extension

http://www.extension.uiuc.edu

University of Illinois Extension–horticulture links

http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/state/hort.html

Illinois Master Gardeners

http://www.extension.uiuc.edu/mg/

National Garden Bureau

http://www.ngb.org/

All America Selections

http://www.aaswinners.com/