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College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

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Open House Set for Ohio State Annuals Trials Aug. 10 in Columbus

July 14, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The best of this year's ornamental bedding and container plants will be on display on Wednesday, Aug. 10, in Columbus as Ohio State University's Floriculture Program hosts the 2011 OSU Annuals and Mixed-Containers Trials Open House for green industry professionals, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Sponsored by the university's Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, the open house will be held at 2001 Fyffe Court, Columbus. Participants should first drive to the Fyffe Court turnaround in front of the Howlett Hall main entrance, get a parking permit from event staff, and then proceed to 103 Kottman Hall after parking.

Registration costs $12 per person before Aug. 1 and $17 after that date, and includes boxed lunch, refreshments, parking permit and handouts. To register, send your name, contact information and check (payable to The Ohio State University) to Claudio Pasian, 249B Howlett Hall, 2001 Fyffe Court, Columbus, OH 43210.

The open house program starts at 10 a.m. with a presentation about the trials, which this year include 457 bedding-plant cultivars, 210 container-plant cultivars, 56 shade-plant cultivars, and four mixed-container combinations from more than 30 companies. Next is a tour of the trials at 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch at noon.

Between 1 and 3:30 p.m., there will be several presentations by industry and Ohio State speakers:

  • "The Proven Winners Trialing Process and New Releases for 2011-12," John Gaydos, director of product development and promotion, Proven Winners.
  • "PGRs (Plant Growth Regulators) to Increase Plant Quality and Retailability," Michelle Jones, associate professor, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and OSU Extension.
  • "Greenhouse Sanitation," Claudio Pasian, associate professor, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, OARDC and OSU Extension.

The objective of the Ohio State annuals trials, Pasian said, is to observe the performance of new plants under environmental conditions typical of central Ohio.

"These trials help the bedding-plant industry learn more about the ease to grow and garden performance of the many new cultivars breeders release every year, as well as customers' opinions about those cultivars," Pasian explained. "The information gained in these trials is also important for professional landscapers, since failure of a particular cultivar in large beds (hundreds of square feet) can be very costly."

For more information about the open house (which is supported in part by OFA, an Association of Horticulture Professionals), contact Pasian at 614-292-9941 or pasian.1@osu.edu; or Lindsay Diewald at 614-292-3319 or diewald.10@buckeyemail.osu.edu.

OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

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Author(s): 
Mauricio Espinoza
Source(s): 
Claudio Pasian