Garden lovers, home growers and anyone looking to spend a summer afternoon outdoors are invited to North Dakota State University on July 21 for Plants, Local Foods and Outdoor Spaces, a free public event showcasing gardening inspiration and one of the nation’s most remarkable daylily collections.

The event begins indoors at NDSU's Peltier Complex from 2 to 3:45 p.m. with two concurrent tracks of gardening seminars.

The edible gardening sessions include the following professors in NDSU’s Department of Plant Sciences:

• Raspberries and Apples – David Dai
• Hardy Grapes – Harlene Hatterman-Valenti
• Grafting Tomatoes – Chiwon Lee

The ornamental landscape sessions feature the following sessions and presenters:

• Ash Replacement Trees – Todd West, professor in NDSU’s Department of Plant Sciences
• Demystifying Ornamental Shrub Pruning – Esther McGinnis, NDSU Extension horticulturist and associate professor in NDSU’s Department of Plant Sciences
• The Perennials I’d Rescue First if I Had to Move – Don Kinzler, NDSU Extension agriculture and natural resources horticulture agent

Space is limited for the free indoor presentations, and advance registration is required.

Beginning at 3:30, the celebration moves outdoors to the NDSU Horticulture Research and Demonstration Gardens at the corner of 18th St. and 12th Ave. North. The event will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Veggies for the Pantry, an NDSU Extension Master Gardener project that collects fresh produce from home gardeners at convenient metro locations for delivery to local food pantries.

Over the past decade, this initiative has collected over 130,000 pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits to benefit the Fargo Emergency Food Pantry and other local pantries. To mark the milestone, Master Gardeners will collect both canned and fresh produce donations throughout the event.

The highlight of the event is the NDSU Historic Daylily Garden, which is expected to be at peak bloom. Home to approximately 2,000 daylily cultivars, it is the nation’s largest public collection of daylilies. NDSU is pursuing recognition through the American Public Gardens Association’s Plant Collections Network, a designation for nationally important plant collections. If approved, the daylily garden would join important collections such as Denver Botanic Gardens’ Alpines of the World, Longwood Gardens’ waterlilies and the lilac collection at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University.

The garden event will feature walking tours of the annual and perennial flower gardens at 4:30 and 5:30. The gardens serve as an official All-American Selections bedding plant display garden. Each year, over 200 species and cultivars of annual bedding plants are trialed for vigor, bloom performance and landscape appeal.

“The gardens are looking exceptionally lush and vibrant,” says McGinnis.

Educational booths will be scattered throughout the garden. At 5 p.m., NDSU Department of Plant Sciences faculty Alan Zuk and Deying Li will be on hand to answer lawn questions. NDSU Extension Master Gardener diagnosticians will be available until 6:30 to identify plant problems and provide gardening advice.

The outdoor event is free and open to the public. Free parking is available on the north side of the gardens, with overflow parking north of the gardens at the Peltier Complex on 18th St. North and east of the gardens on 12th Ave. North.

A detailed schedule and registration for the indoor event can be found at ndsu.ag/garden-event-26.

NDSU Agriculture Communication – July 9, 2026

Source: Esther McGinnis, 701-231-7406, esther.mcginnis@ndsu.edu

Editor: Dominic Erickson, 701-231-5546, dominic.erickson@ndsu.edu