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Each year the NGB Board of Directors selects one flower and one vegetable to be showcased. They are chosen because they are easy to grow from seed, widely adaptable, genetically diverse, and are versatile.

These fact sheets are provided as a service from the National Garden Bureau. The use of this information is unrestricted. Please credit the National Garden Bureau as the source.

> New Fact Sheets

Eggplant
The eggplant has been celebrated as an aphrodisiac and feared as the cause of insanity. Today it is appreciated for both its inspiring beauty and delightful flavor.

Rudbeckia
Rudbeckia is an all-American treasure. Widely known as black-eyed Susan or coneflower, this native to North America can be found growing as a wildflower in fields and along roadsides throughout the country.

> Flower Archive

Celosia
Celosias are one of the most eye-catching annuals to grow in the garden.

Centaurea
No matter what you call them--cornflowers, bachelor's buttons, basket flower, or the old-fashioned blue-bottle--members of the genus Centaurea are wonderful additions to a garden.

Dianthus
For centuries, Dianthus has been one of the most sought after plants for the garden.

Geranium
Should we call them geraniums or pelargoniums? By any name, they are definitely as sweet.

Petunia
Whether edging a flower bed, covering a bare area like a ground cover, spilling out of a container or trailing from a hanging basket--petunias help keep the gardening season at its most colorful from late spring to fall.

Poppy
Poppies deserve a place in any garden: in wildflower and meadow plantings, perennial borders, cutting gardens or mixed-shrub borders.

Salvia
Salvias - they bring color to the garden from late spring through early fall. They are indispensable for gardeners who want pretty, bright, long-lasting flowers to enjoy in the garden and in arrangements.

Sweet Pea
North America's enchantment with sweet peas goes back more than a century. In the 1930's box cars of sweet pea seeds were shipped from California producers to their customers east of the Rockies.

Vinca
Clear flower colors and glossy green leaves make Vinca indispensable for season-long interest in the garden and in containers. Add practically no maintenance to these drought tolerant plants and you have a winning combination.

Violas
Violas are now competing with their pansy cousins as superstars of the cool season garden. Always easy to grow, newer viola varieties offer larger flower size, along with excellent heat resistance and cold tolerance, for exceptional garden performance.

Zinnia
For decades, zinnias have been the flowering annual of choice for spreading glorious colors throughout the garden as well as for cutting to bring indoors.

> Vegetable Archive

Asian Vegetable
The National Garden Bureau celebrates the Asian culture and the contributions to North American gardens and ethnic cuisine.

Basil
Can you imagine a garden without basil? Impossible!

Bean
Young snap beans to eat fresh from the garden. Colorful green, purple and yellow beans. Bush beans that grow on compact stems and pole beans that clamber up tepees and trellises.

Cabbage and Kale
Cabbage and kale are among the hardiest and most nutritious vegetables a home gardener can grow with ease. Both are handsome in the garden, with colors ranging from pale green through dark battleship blue, to deep reddish purple.

Chile Pepper
Few edibles are harder to pigeonhole than chile peppers.

Melon
According to Webster's Dictionary, melons are "the large round fruit of various plants of the gourd family, with sweet pulpy flesh and many seeds (honeydew, cantaloupe, muskmelon)."

Mesclun
Designer greens are the rage for health-conscious Americans. These leafy mixes known as Mesclun are not only low in calories and high in nutrition, but also are very tasty.

Pea
Get an early start on the gardening season by growing peas.

Spinach
All of that in a decorative vegetable that tastes great whether you eat it raw in salads or cooked in innumerable dishes. It is particularly tasty and has the highest nutrient levels when you harvest it from your own garden.

Sweet Corn
Sweet Corn is an indisputable native of the Americas and has been consumed for 7,000 years.

Tomato
The tomato originated in the Andean Mountains of South America. The Inca people living in the area did not cultivate the tomato.

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