Ornamental and edible plants for home landscapes will be featured during a field day Aug. 7 at North Dakota State University’s Horticulture Research Farm near Absaraka, N.D.

The field day will run from 4 to 7 p.m. At 4 p.m., NDSU faculty and other personnel will lead a riding tour to showcase tree, fruit and vegetable research.

The 80-acre farm includes the Dale E. Herman Research Arboretum, which has the largest collection of trees in the northern Great Plains. It contains more than 5,000 species, cultivars and selections of trees and shrubs.

“Growing trees in a prairie state is a challenge,” says Esther McGinnis, NDSU Extension horticulturist. “NDSU’s woody plant improvement program is rising to the challenge by breeding and evaluating new cultivars that are pleasing to the eye, well-adapted to cold temperatures and tolerant of alkaline soils.”

The field day also will feature fruit research, including hardy grape breeding, and evaluation of raspberry and Juneberry cultivars.

Vegetable gardeners will learn about organic weed control methods and the potential for a longer growing season in high tunnels. High tunnels are unheated plastic-covered structures that have the potential to expand the growing season by one month or more in the spring and fall.

The field day will end with an arboretum tree walk led by Todd West, a professor in NDSU’s Plant Sciences Department, and Greg Morgenson, a research specialist in the department, at 6 p.m. They will discuss which trees thrive in North Dakota and current NDSU tree introductions.

A light dinner will be available after 5 p.m. until supplies run out.

Directions to the NDSU Absaraka Horticulture Research Farm: Take Interstate 94 and turn north at Wheatland exit 322. Follow the pavement to the north. The road curves to the west shortly after passing through Wheatland. Turn north (right) on Cass County Road 5, a paved road, and watch for posted signs. At the Absaraka corner, follow the posted signs to the Horticulture Research Farm, which is bordered by trees.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - July 30, 2019