The beauty of science was on display at the University of Georgia Trial Gardens.
Their “Industry Open House” took place on Wednesday, June 4, inviting students, horticulture professionals and growers to see what is in bloom this season.
Upon entry, flora fills your eyes at every corner; colorful flowers and bright green plants cover the ground, with various planters and a greenhouse to hold even more of them.
While beautiful, the purpose of the flowers is even more extraordinary.
“I know, to some, when you walk in it just looks beautiful because it’s a flower trial garden””Sandy Begani, the trial garden manager, said. “But all of these plants are research.”
Various companies and plant growers who own patents to sell certain plants send them to the UGA Trial Gardens to test if factors of the Georgia climate — like humidity and red clay soil — impact their growth and livelihood.
“[Companies] will send plants that they have bred previously … or might have specific traits, to see how it does in our climate here in southeast Georgia,” Jancy Lariscy, a senior Spanish major with a horticulture minor, said.
Around the event, participants placed flags into the plants they thought were their favorite as a way to nominate them for the Industry’s Choice Award, which is published in various trade publications.
This trial garden is also the second stop on the current 2025 Southern Garden Tour, a tour of the South’s premier trial gardens open to those in the horticulture industry.
“There are trial gardens in all different locations around the country and around the world. So plants that do well in Georgia may not do well in Florida [or] Michigan,” Begani said. “All of that information is useful for the companies.”
Rows of plants in a greenhouse on Wednesday, June 4, at the industry open house hosted by University of Georgia’s Trial Garden. Plants that stay in the greenhouse are utilized for breeding, trials and plant sales. (Photo/Kaitlyn Harvey)
In the greenhouse are what are called “mother plants” — plants that are not trialed and are used to reproduce via asexual propagation. Alongside the mother plants live trial plants that aren’t suitable for outdoor conditions, like cacti and other houseplants.
Plants are usually grown from the end of frost season to the beginning of frost season, during which the team works with groups like Innovation Gateway, an organization in UGA’s Technology Transfer Office, to commercialize or patent their research.
“It’s been nice to see the role UGA plays in the plant industry and how we are able to have something like this in our backyard,” Ferra Pinnock, a post-doc student who works with Innovation Gateway, said.
The Trial Gardens is also hosting an open house for the public on Saturday, June 7 which includes tours of the garden, a plant sale and the opportunity to vote on the “People’s choice” award.