Metrolina Greenhouses announces Summer Trials

Metrolina Greenhouses will hold its annual Trial Gardens Open House for members of the floriculture industry from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 9.

The annual event is part of the Southern Garden Tour, which includes stops at Young’s Plant Farm in Auburn, Alabama, on June 7 and the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, on June 8.

Metrolina Greenhouses will also open the Trial Gardens to gardening consumers for its Home Garden Panel consumer research event on Friday, June 10. This event will only be open to advocate-level industry members of Metrolina Greenhouses’ Home Garden Panel to interact with gardening consumers in research discussions and focus groups.

This year’s Trial Gardens open house marks roughly 20 years since the operation began hosting its annual summer trials.

The Trial Gardens will evaluate more than 2,000 items:

• 1,956 annuals
• 418 perennials
• 375 second-year perennials
• 203 2-gallon combination hanging baskets
• 126 planters

Additionally, Metrolina Greenhouses’ research and development team has chosen heuchera to evaluate this year for its perennial genus trial.

Attendees should RSVP for the Trial Gardens at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0e45aeae2ba64-2023 

This year Metrolina Greenhouses celebrates its 50^th anniversary. Established in 1972, Metrolina Greenhouses has held plant trials for the past 40 years, beginning in the driveway at Tom and Vickie VanWingerden’s house. Today, Metrolina’s expert research and development team evaluates more than 2,000 plants in its Trial Gardens annually, and over 15,000 varieties in both public and private trials each year. The team’s work provides critical analysis of varieties that will grow best in the Southeast region.

For more information on Metrolina Greenhouses Trial Gardens, contact Kayla Gibson, Research and Development Manager, 980-266-0011. To learn more about Metrolina’s Home Garden Panel, contact Lauren Kenworthy, Manager – Marketing, Home Garden Panel, lkenworthy@metrolinagreenhouses.com.

Learn more about the operation at www.metrolinagreenhouses.com.