Pictured: Spooner ARS display garden. Photo from https://spooner.ars.wisc.edu/demonstration-garden/gallery/
The UW-Madison Spooner Agricultural Research Station will host its annual Twilight Garden Tour on Aug. 21. The event is from 4 p.m. to dusk. It’ll be at the station’s teaching and display garden at 780 Orchard Lane, just off Highway 70 east of Spooner.
The evening features presentations, demonstrations, and displays. Plus, enjoy guided tours of the garden plots, including the station’s research projects focused on hazelnuts, table grapes, and honeyberries.
Spooner’s garden is an official All-America Selections display garden featuring grapes, flowers, and vegetables. It has been awarded multiple awards in the National Landscape Design contest sponsored by AAS.
Attendees are welcome to explore the garden and bring in plant, insect, and disease samples – or representative photos – for identification and advice. Numerous experts will be on hand to ID samples and answer gardening questions, including personnel from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the Division of Extension, and the station, plus local garden volunteers.
This year’s presenters include:
- Julie Dawson, associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, discusses the Seed to Kitchen organic variety trials
- PJ Liesch, entomologist with the CALS Department of Entomology and Extension’s Agriculture Institute and director of the UW Insect Diagnostic Lab, is talking about the insect pests to watch for in 2025
- Steffen Mirsky, emerging crops outreach program coordinator in Extension’s Agriculture Institute, shares insights on the crops his team is studying
Spooner Agricultural Research Station covers 383 acres and is the university’s northern-most station. It hosts field research on a variety of short-season and other crops, including oats, barley, winter wheat, alfalfa, forage grasses, hazelnuts, corn, and soybeans.
There is no charge for this educational event. For more information, contact the Spooner Ag Research Station at (715) 635-3735 or learn more at https://spooner.ars.wisc.edu/.
