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More than 2,000 lawn and gardening enthusiasts turned out for the 2006 Summer Celebration at the University of Tennessee West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Jackson. This yea'r event is planned for July 12. Admission is free. Download this image

(JACKSON , Tenn. ) – Organizers of the annual University of Tennessee Summer Celebration promise this year’s event will climb to new heights with its featured plants – annual vines. The 18th Summer Celebration, an educational expo for lawn and gardening enthusiasts, is planned for Thursday, July 12, at the UT West Tennessee Research and Education Center .

Admission is free.

The grounds and exhibit areas of the center will open to the public at 10:00 a.m. and formal presentations and tours will begin at 1:00 p.m. While the care and maintenance of annual vines is the featured theme, visitors can enjoy a range of presentations and tours about ornamental horticulture, gardening, and lawn care. Many of the talks will take place indoors, in air-conditioned venues.

A special tour highlighting the Center’s first century of agricultural research is also scheduled. Visitors will have the opportunity to tour the 600-acre facility via tractor-drawn wagons. Tour leaders will point out local projects and discuss how UT research continues to improve food, fiber and fuel for the future while conserving habitat and the environment.

The research center, which is located at 605 Airways Boulevard , is among the few such facilities that thrives near a downtown center, said Dr. Robert Hayes, director. “This tour is a unique opportunity to see how agricultural research right here in the heart of Jackson has improved and will continue to improve lives across the state, nation and world,” he said.

Hayes indicated that a formal celebration of the center’s centennial is being planned for later this year.

Summer Celebration presentations will include tips on which annuals and perennials will thrive best in West Tennessee and how to use fewer pesticides in your garden as well as displays of low-maintenance roses. Wildlife experts will be on hand to discuss how to attract - or perhaps discourage - visitors to your yard, and beekeeping will be the focus of an exhibit presented by UT specialists with assistance from the West Tennessee Beekeepers’ Association.

A plant sale by the Madison County Master Gardeners will benefit the West Tennessee Research and Education Center Gardens , which serves as the backdrop for the day’s festivities.

The last of the day’s tours and presentations will begin at 7:30 p.m. and wrap up by 8 o’clock .

The event will also feature a number of area nurseries, landscape businesses and specialty artisans exhibiting and selling their wares and services.

Visitors are encouraged to bring insect- and disease-damaged plants and unknown plants and insects to a diagnostic clinic for identification and treatment recommendations.

Concessions will be available for purchase from the West Tennessee 4-H All Stars.

The complete program and directions to the location are available online at http://westtennessee.tennessee.edu

The West Tennessee Research and Education Center is one of 10 unique research units operated for the benefit of the state by the UT Agricultural Experiment Station system. In addition to its reputation for hosting one of the region’s premier outdoor lawn and gardening events, the facility is known for its agronomic research advances that benefit the production of row crops like corn, soybeans, and cotton.

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Contacts:

Dr. Robert Hayes, director, West Tennessee Research and Education Center, (731) 424-1643
Patricia McDaniels, UTIA Marketing and Communications Services, (865) 974-7141