The cream of the crop
Hundreds of plant enthusiasts — as well as those just curious about gardening — had a field day last August at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s West Madison Agricultural Research Station trial and display garden, where they discussed gardening issues with university experts, learned about plant varieties and sampled fresh produce. In recognition of that event and other outreach efforts by the station, All-America Selections has chosen the garden as the winner of the 2005 AAS Display Garden Exemplary Education Award.
All-America Selections is a non-profit organization that tests new flowers and vegetables for commercial growers and the home gardening enthusiast. The West Madison station, part of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, is one of more than 175 display gardens in North America that grow and showcase new varieties each year that are not yet on the market for consumers.
“This national award is a great honor for us, and we are very pleased to have been recognized for the outreach and education work that we do for the people of Wisconsin,” says Judith Reith-Rozelle, the station’s assistant superintendent. “It also pays tribute to our master gardener volunteers and CALS student interns, who do a lot of hard work to ensure that our gardens are beautiful, help host field day and develop the educational programs. We couldn’t do it without them.”
The station, located on the far west side of Madison on Mineral Point Road, is already planning two family-friendly events for this year: a family horticulture day on April 29 and the annual field day on August 19.