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

The field day is set to run from 4 p.m. 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," said 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, professor in NDSU's plant sciences department, and research specialist Greg Morgenson 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.

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