By Karen England.
I am a long-time member of the International Herb Association, the IHA, and we have a long-standing educational program called the Herb of the Year™. For the past 25 years our group has chosen a yearly herb to showcase, raising the awareness of little-known herbs or highlighting the surprising herbal aspects of well-known plants. (To learn more please visit https://iherb.org/herb-of-the-year/) The program includes a published book about each herb, written by the membership, and I have contributed to several of these books over the years, including this year’s book on the 2020 Herb of the Year™ - Rubus spp. (Blackberries, Raspberries, et al.)
2020 Herb of the YearTM Rubus spp.
Our program got me wondering, are there other Plants of the Year? So, I googled it and, I should have guessed, there are tons!
Here are just a few - How many are you growing?
According to https://weresmartworld.com/nl/bloemkool-groente-van-het-jaar-2020 Cauliflower is the Vegetable and Grapefruit is the Fruit of the Year for 2020.
According to https://all-americaselections.org/three-new_winners/ 'Coleus Main Street Beale Street' is the 2020 AAS Ornamental Winner, 'Nasturtium Tip Top Rose' is the
2020 AAS Flower Winner and 'Pumpkin Blue Prince F1' is the 2020 AAS Edible – Vegetable Winner.
According to https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/euphorbia/diamond-frost-euphorbia-hybrid Diamond Frost®, Euphorbia hybrid is the 2020 Annual of the Year, but this succulent is also, since its 2005 debut, "the Most Award Winning Plant in Proven Winners History." Visit their website to see all of the Proven Winners 2020 National Plants of the Year . . .
And so it goes!
Happy New Year!