June 5, 2007

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OVERTON – On June 28, nursery growers, greenhouse managers and gardening enthusiasts can view field tests of flowering bedding plant varieties at the annual Overton Horticultural Field Day.

"We have over 800 varieties this year and that includes 180 varieties in the container trials," said Dr. Brent Pemberton, horticulturist with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

The field day will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Texas A&M University System's Agricultural and Research Center's North Farm site. The tour will continue at the North Farm site until about 10:30 a.m., then move to the Overton Center's headquarters building where a demonstration garden is located. Lunch will be served at about 11:30 a.m.

Pemberton began trials of bedding plants at the Overton center to serve the commercial greenhouse and bedding plant industry. In recent years, the industry has had a $500 million annual economic impact on the region, according to the Texas Agricultural Statistics Service.

Before Pemberton began his trials, there were few of any tests under East Texas conditions of the many new varieties released by seed company each year, he said.

Since the first field day with less than 100 varieties, the event has grown to include vinca, ornamental peppers, trailing petunias, verbenas, begonias, portulaca, zinnias, geraniums and ageratum. This year, there will be an emphasis on impatiens, including regular impatiens, New Guinea varieties and some miniature types, Pemberton said.

"There's also a good selection this year of angelonia and cuphea," he said.

The field performance trials are now replicated at the Texas A&M University Dallas Center.

"We also coordinate trial results with the Dallas Arboretum," Pemberton said. "Over 5 million consumers in the northeast Texas region now have the opportunity to see how promising new plants from all over the world perform in our climate."

Though begun primarily to serve the bedding plant industry, with the trial's thousands of square feet of plots planted purple, pink, red and white flowers they have become popular with regional gardeners. Because it is such a colorful event, Texas Highways magazine featured the field day in its March 2007 issue, Pemberton said.

Preparation for the trial has also become a way for local Master Gardeners to fulfill their requirement for community service. Moreover, with the ever-increasing number of entries by seed companies, the trials could not have grown to be so all inclusive without the volunteers, Pemberton said.

"The Smith County Master Gardeners Association is an integral part of these trials," he said. "They provide hundreds of hours of labor every year. They are how we get these things planted and how we get this done."

Registration is free and will include a lunch. The Overton center is located 1 mile north of downtown Overton on State Highway 3053.

The North Farm site is about 4 miles north of the center on State Highway 3053. For an online map, go to http://overton.tamu.edu/flowers/fieldday.htm .