The NDSU Plant Sciences department will host a public event titled “Plants, Local Foods and Outdoor Spaces” from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on July 25, in the NDSU Horticulture Research and Demonstration Gardens. The gardens are located on the NDSU campus at the corner of 18th Street and 12th Avenue North in Fargo.
The event will feature walking tours of the annual and perennial flower gardens. The gardens are an official All-America Selections bedding plant display garden. Each year, the department evaluates the performance of more than 200 cultivars of annual bedding plants under harsh North Dakota growing conditions. Plants are rated for vigor, bloom and uniformity.
“We moved the event to late July to coincide with peak daylily bloom,” says Esther McGinnis, NDSU Extension horticulturist. “NDSU has the largest institutional collection of daylilies in the country. The Historic Daylily Garden is gorgeous when it is in peak bloom.”
In addition to garden tours, Joseph Zeleznik, NDSU Extension forester, and Don Kinzler, Extension horticulture agent for Cass County, will give talks under the big tent. Zeleznik will give the keynote presentation on the recent discovery of emerald ash borer in the region. Kinzler will give a talk on creating exceptional annual flowerbeds and containers.
Extension Master Gardeners will be on site to accept donations of fresh garden produce and canned goods to benefit the Fargo Emergency Food Pantry. “If you have excess cucumbers, beans and other fresh produce, consider bringing them to the event to fight food insecurity,” McGinnis says.
Extension Master Gardeners also will be on hand to answer plant questions. Children’s activities will include a pollinator-themed scavenger hunt.
New this year, a local ice cream truck, Chatty Bell’s Treats, will be on site selling pre-packaged summery treats.
A limited number of parking spots are available on the north side of the garden. Free overflow parking will be diverted to parking lot TA on 12th Avenue.
For a detailed schedule of events, visit ndsu.ag/ndsugardens.
For more information about the gardening event, contact McGinnis at 701-231-7971 or esther.mcginnis@ndsu.edu.
