Green Tennessee

The UT Gardens is a nationally recognized All-America Selections test site. Download this photo (194 K)

Are you tired of playing a guessing game as to what plants you should grow in Tennessee? Even a quick review of The University of Tennessee Gardens 2006 Best Plants Report can help you choose the flower and herb varieties that are best suited for your garden.

Popular annual and perennial flowers as well as herbs and tropical plants were evaluated by faculty of the UT Plant Sciences Department at garden sites in both Knoxville and Jackson. From impatiens to lantana and chrysanthemum to salvia, among the top performers were:

Best in Show – New Guinea Impatiens 'Kokomo Petite Scarlet' is a mini-New Guinea which was more compact and smaller than standards.

Best New 2006 Variety - Cuphea "Flamenco Samba" from Proven Winners had large, showy red and purple blooms which were striking in the garden.

Best Old Variety – Celosia AAS Winner "New Look" had striking burgundy foliage with bright red plume flowers.

The UT Gardens is a nationally recognized All-America Selections test site.

International companies support the gardens through donations who in turn receive information on heat and cold tolerance, flower production, plant uniformity, flower and plant size, pest resistance, and landscape appeal. Such information is important to these companies who determine what plants ultimately reach the commercial market.

Getting the word out not only on what thrives in these southern test gardens, but what fails is also important. Plant evaluation data is published each year in a UT Agricultural Experiment Station report. To see the summary of 2006 performance and the full report, go online to http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/TrialReports.html

All-America Selections® recently named the University of Tennessee Gardens – specifically the Gardens' 2006 Blooms Days Garden Festival and Marketplace – as its Category II Exemplary Education Award winner. The award recognizes top gardens in each of three categories, based on the estimated number of visitors received during their growing season: Category I – up to 4,999 visitors; Category II – 5,000-99,999; and Category III – 100,000 or more visitors. The UT Gardens on Neyland Drive in Knoxville annually receives in excess of 50,000 visitors.

More information about Blooms Days and the Gardens is available online at http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/

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