Welcome to the Trial Gardens at The University of Georgia! The garden trials the newest varieties of annuals from top plant breeders from all over the world and puts perennials to the test to find those that stand up to southeastern heat and humidity. The Trial Gardens at UGA are open all year and provide a great source of ideas and information for students, gardeners and industry professionals. We invite you to visit anytime!
Find us on social media!
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube
Our Garden Manager is Sandra Begani. Please contact Sandy (sbegani@uga.edu) or Dr. John Ruter (ruter@uga.edu) if you have any questions regarding trials.
Our 2024 Annual Spring Plant Sale at the UGA Trial Garden will be on Saturday, April 6th from 8AM to 1PM!
.
The Trial Garden Spring Sale will feature landscape ornamentals curated from our collection of annuals, perennials, and more!
HORT 3930 Trial Garden Internship
2023 Classic City Winners are now announced!
The Trial Gardens are open! Come by and visit the gardens and see for yourself how these plants are doing. Admission is free. Parking is available per-hour at the South Deck. You do not need to schedule any times to visit...just come out. The gardens are never closed or locked up at any time of the year.
View this years trial ratings for all plants by selecting "Annuals" or "Perennials" below.
How to read trial results
When viewing the annual results, these are some helpful hints to keep in mind so that you can understand how to interpret the chart and each plant's score:
1. We plant our garden in mid-to-late April and start taking data the first week of June. So plants that start out at a 4 or 5 have been growing for around a month have been getting regular fertilizer and water. When we do plant, we only plant 'finished' pots. Anything that has not developed well in the pot in the greenhouse are planted later.
2. Generally speaking, any plant with a score of 3 - 3.5 would be considered a desirable plant for any garden. Plants that are score at consistant 3s means that the plant looks healthy but is not excelling in new growth or flower production.
3. Plants scoring between 3.5 and 4.5 are both flowering well and producing consistand new growth. This is the largest group in the garden.
4. Plants scoring between 4.5 and 5 are the plants that are truly standing out above the rest of the flock. These plants are both flowering profusely and/or maintaining a consistant desirable shape in the garden.
5. Watch for trends where some plants performed well early season and have dropped off as the summer has progressed. Likewise, some plants have had a slow start and are coming into their season the later in the summer we go. Typically, better scoring plants are maintaining slight dips and rises that correlate with their bloom cycle, i.e. in bloom: better score, out of bloom: lesser score.
The performance ratings are based
on number of flowers, leaf color,
uniformity of habit and flower,
resistance to insects
and diseases and
overall appearance.
View Trial Results:
We couldn't do this without our sponsors. Thank you.
