What a great day for a field day! Over 200 people showed up for the Horticulture Field Day at Texas A&M at Overton today. The weather cooperated and the field was full of color for folks to enjoy and evaluate. Petunias, pentas, angelicas, ageratums, impatiens and even sneezeweed (Helenium 'Dakota Gold') were in full glory. Growers, seed dealers, arboretum faculty, county Extension agents and Master Gardeners were all given 2 flags to mark favorites, and it was a tough decision for many. Purslane 'Rio Scarlet' View image and Magilla Perilla, among others.
After viewing the field trials, everyone moved a couple miles up the road to the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center to view the Demonstration Garden which was overflowing with color. Plants in the Texas Superstar and North Texas Winners Circle program were well represented, as well as many unusual and beautiful blooms.
Smith County Master Gardeners were well represented, as well they should be, since these trials depend on their hundreds of hours of volunteer labor to seed and transplant the thousands of plants represented in the greenhouse and field trial evaluations. Just this spring, Smith Co. Master Gardeners volunteered over 1000 hours, assisting Dr. Brent Pemberton's bedding plant trial program. (View image of Smith Co. Master Gardener Don Davis, field trial volunteer coordinator, being interviewed)
For more information on the East Texas horticulture program at Texas A&M at Overton, go to http://flowers.tamu.edu.
