Explore all that the Horticulture Display Garden has to offer during the 52nd annual Horticulture Night at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC), Morris. Experience beautiful flower gardens, meandering paths and creative landscape ideas while taking in a variety of horticultural presentations and hands-on gardening demonstrations.

Horticulture Night is scheduled for Thursday, July 28, from 4-8 p.m.   

Keynote presentation “Minnesota’s Changing Climate: Implications for What We Grow” by Dr. Mark Seeley, Professor Emeritus, U of MN Climatologist and Meteorologist, begins at 6 p.m.

Enjoy a horticultural presentation under the comfort of a tent and bleacher seating during one of our scheduled presentations:  

• All Things Annual Flowers with Carrie Larson, McHutchison Horticultural Distributors

• Fall Gardening Starts Now: Succession Planting Your Fall Garden with Meg McAndrews Cowden, author and creator of @seedtofork

• Living Fence Lines with Adam Hjelm, Sauk River Watershed District

• Drought Tolerant Perennials with Julie Schroer & Jodie Ramsay, Jean’s the Right Plant Place

Several on-going gardening demonstrations will take place throughout the Horticulture Display Garden, allowing participants to freely go from station to station at their own pace:

• Soil Health for Vegetables with Natalie Hoidal, U of MN Extension

• Bud Grafting with David Vaske, Miltona Greenhouse

• Build your Own Fresh Cut Flower Bouquet led by Farm Road Flower Farm, Hancock.

• Bugs for Birds with Prairie Lakes Audubon Chapter, Alexandria.

Other activities include a grit weeding demonstration, voting for your favorite annual flowers, food and vendor booths, cow milking demonstration, WCROC farm tours, live music and much more! Golf cart rides available for those needed assistance.

The WCROC Horticulture Display Garden expands nearly four acres and includes plantings from several plant breeding companies from around the world. All flowers are labeled, allowing visitors to take note of top performing cultivars under regional conditions.  Plant materials include annual flowers, perennials, trees, shrubs, vegetables, natives, aquatic and tropical varieties.

The WCROC is located at 46352 State Hwy 329, Morris (one mile east of University of Minnesota Morris campus). Look for the wind turbines to guide you. Horticulture Night is free and open to the public. Schedule subject to change. For further details, please visit http://wcroc.cfans.umn.edu