Ornamental Trial Garden Hosts Open House
August 10, 2012 - News Release
The University of Guelph will hold its annual trial garden open house Aug. 15, noon to 8 p.m., at the Guelph Turfgrass Institute, 328 Victoria Rd.
Free and open to the public, the event will feature Guelph and Wellington County Master Gardeners answering gardening questions and the Guelph Healthy Landscape Team discussing natural pest control and wise water use.
“For the first time, we are trialing cultivars of Fuchsia and Dipladenia, which is a plant similar to Mandevilla,” said Rodger Tschanz, a U of G plant agriculture technician who manages the trial garden. “New colours and forms of more common annuals also abound -- for example, an almost black petunia propagated from seed and a sweet alyssum with variegated foliage. Once again, there will be more than 500 cultivars in the trials, primarily annuals and perennials. We’ll also show a few vegetables suitable for small urban spaces.”
There will probably be several cherry tomato cultivars ripe enough for taste-testing, Tschanz said. The Guelph Centre for Urban Organic Farming on campus will sell organic vegetables.
The perennial collection continues to grow, including many new coneflowers and coral bells.
Two plant breeders have been added to the trial program this year: Fides and Ecke Ranch. MCP Manufacturing Ltd., a local manufacturer and supplier of gardening accessories, will sell their products.
Also on hand will be representatives of the Guelph Horticultural Society and Pollination Guelph.
Details are available online.
Contact:
Rodger Tschanz
Trial Garden Manager
Department of Plant Agriculture
University of Guelph
519-824-4120, Ext. 52788
rtschanz@uoguelph.ca
