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A transplanted trial garden thrives near Boston

For 35 years, the Waltham Field Station in Massachusetts served as an adequate site for the All-America Selections (AAS) trial garden. Then, in the mid-1990s, the state's decision to severely curtail its system of county agents and other extension services threw the site's viability into doubt. In 1997 a new alliance was formed between the Massachusetts Flower Growers and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society to relocate the AAS trial garden to MassHort's new home at the Elm Bank Reservation in Dover.

Fourteen years later, the relocation has proved to be a winning decision. The trial garden – gardens, actually, because of expansion – is thriving and attracting a steady stream of visitors while producing valuable data for its sponsors.

The 2010 and 2011 garden scheme incorporates 5,000 square feet of planting area for sun and shade annuals, 4,000 square feet for vegetables and 1,000 square feet for perennials. On summer days the gardens are crowded with people making notes on appealing cultivars.

Public interest in container gardening and perennials has driven the trial garden in new directions. In 2010, more than 240 containers, ranging in size from 12 inches to 32 inches, were set out and were among the most visited displays. Container gardens are arrayed both as single specimens, families and true mixed groupings.

At the core of the garden, of course, are the organizations that supply MassHort with the cultivars that are displayed each year. Participating companies include Farfard, Syngenta, Ball Horticultural, J.P. Bartlett, D.S. Cole, Terra Nova, James Greenhouses, Grimes, North Creek Nurseries, Bejo Seed, N.E. Seed, Darwin Perennials and Pleasant View Gardens.

David Fiske is Gardens Curator, Massachusetts Horticultural Society, www.masshort.org.
 

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