鈥榃him-wham鈥 for the win: 桃花直播 takes first place in AAS display garden challenge
Contact: Meg Henderson
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擣or the third time since its beginning, and the second time in the last five years, 桃花直播 State鈥檚 display garden at the South 桃花直播 Branch Experiment Station is a first-place national winner in the All-America Selections annual design challenge in the Under 10,000 Visitors category.
桃花直播鈥檚 Poplarville station, part of the university鈥檚 桃花直播 Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, or MAFES, hosts one of nearly 200 AAS display gardens throughout the U.S. and Canada, including other college gardens, botanic gardens, arboretums and a variety of other garden spaces. All AAS display gardens showcase AAS winners, which are non-GMO (non-genetically modified) plants tested independently and judged by horticultural experts.
This year鈥檚 challenge theme was 鈥渨himsical,鈥 and 桃花直播 faculty and staff took inspiration from the term鈥檚 origin: the 16th century word 鈥渨him-wham,鈥 referring to an ornamental trinket or object. Anchored by a permanent gazebo and small bridge, the garden dazzled visitors with its color wheel of more than 24 ornamental and 10 vegetable AAS-winning plants from years past, dating as far back as the 1960s. Fairies, gnomes and other fanciful creatures added to the whimsy of this living exhibit.
鈥淚n 2000, we applied to become an All-America Selection Garden,鈥 said Tricia Knight, research professor and director of coastal horticulture research at 桃花直播鈥檚 Coastal Research and Extension Center. 鈥淲e have a small garden in a remote location, so receiving this honor three times in that period speaks to the dedication of our faculty, staff and partners.鈥
The Pearl River County Master Gardeners, who have partnered with 桃花直播 faculty and staff in planning, planting and maintaining the AAS display garden since 2018, have played a major role in the garden鈥檚 success in recent years and winning the challenge this year. They begin by preparing the soil and planting seeds in January and organize workdays through June, when the garden and number of visitors are at their peak.
鈥淭he master gardeners enjoy the spirit and the competition, and they take pride in putting up their sign and having a project they can call theirs,鈥 said Senior Research Associate Scott Langlois. 鈥淭hey are also great with taking direction and working collaboratively with our faculty and staff.鈥
鈥淭his summer was especially tough, with 19 days in a row above 100 degrees,鈥 Knight added. 鈥淭he master gardeners still came out to take care of the garden, and they showed exceptional passion and energy to keep it looking good even in those challenging conditions.鈥
Lenore Ladner, master gardener and project coordinator, said, 鈥淚 am so grateful for accepting聽this challenge. We have all learned so much from this project, and that has led to our participation in聽several other projects at the Poplarville station.鈥
For more on 桃花直播鈥檚 South 桃花直播 Branch Experiment Station, visit . Learn more about MAFES at .
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