Horticultural Field Day to Feature Nearly 400 Trials

The East Texas Horticultural Field Day will bring together local growers, gardeners and industry representatives for a tour of bedding plant trials, varying from petunias to verbena to ornamental sweet potatoes. The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on June 24 at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton.

This year’s event will begin with a ride from the center’s North Farm site to the headquarter building, where attendees will tour a demonstration garden. A free lunch will be served around noon, and indoor presentations will begin at 1 p.m.

Trials varieties for 2010 include geranium, trailing petunias, verbena, begonias, lantana and lobelia, as well as a continued emphasis on vinca, a popular landscape plant in the South, according to Dr. Brent Pemberton, an AgriLife Research horticulturist.

These trials began as a means foster commercial interest in the greenhouse and bedding plant industry. According to Pemberton, the industry has had a $500 million annual economic impact on the region.

This event is free and open to the public and has been popular in the past, drawing in more than 230 people in 2009. For more information, including driving directions, visit overton.tamu.edu.