A Program for Plant Introduction

Founded in 1999, The Athens Select™ program is a collection of unique heat- and humidity tolerant plant varieties, propagated from virus-indexed stock by members of Athens Select Marketing Association. Potential plants for the program are designated by Dr. Allan Armitage at after trials at The Gardens at Athens, and final selection is made by the members of Athens Select.

Plants in the Athens Select™ program differ from other plants in the market place by being selected under conditions of high heat and humidity. Plants selected for Athens Select are "heat and humidity tested" for two to three years at the University of Georgia Trial Gardens before entering the program.

One of the key benefits of Athens Select™ materials is that all elite stock is tested for, and cleaned of viruses. Propagators of Athens Select material agree to test stock material, or purchase new elite material to maintain indexed status. For more information, please go to Athens Select.