The Southern Garden Tour will take place June 3-5, offering greenhouse growers and horticulture professionals an opportunity to visit trial gardens across Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.
The self-guided event features stops at Young’s Plant Farm in Auburn on June 3, the University of Georgia Trial Gardens in Athens on June 4 and Metrolina Greenhouses in Huntersville on June 5. Each location will host an industry open house showcasing new plant genetics and real-world performance trials.
The updated website serves as the event’s hub for registration, location details and highlights of 2024 top-performing plant varieties.
At Young’s Plant Farm, the trial garden will partner with Auburn University’s Food U program to feature herbs, vegetables and edible flowering annuals. Jack Maruna, Food U coordinator at Auburn University, will be on-site to answer questions. Guests may also arrange to tour the Laurel Hotel’s rooftop garden, which supplies produce for a campus teaching restaurant.
Metrolina Greenhouses will host an invitation-only consumer event through its Home Garden Panel, where more than 600 participants will offer feedback on trial varieties. This includes focus groups and garden walk-throughs to collect qualitative and quantitative consumer insights.
The tour is designed for breeders, growers, brokers, educators and allied trade members to evaluate plant performance and connect with peers across the horticulture industry.
More information is available at southerngardentour.com.
Video Library 
