Event continues until 4 p.m., today

JACKSON, Tennessee – The anticipation exceeded the anticipation when The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture held their ‘Summer Celebration’ at the West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center, Thursday.

“There are all kinds of activities, today,” Jason Reeves said, “There are tours of the farm … talks about vegetables, turf grass, we have a wonderful plant sale, vendors selling plants and plant materials and different garden related items.”

Jason Reeves is a horticulturalist at the West Tennessee AgResearch & Education Center, located at 605 Airways Boulevard.

The 33rd annual event featured educational sessions hosted by more than 20 UTIA researchers, Extension specialists and horticulturists as well as regional experts on topics such as gardening, weed and animal control, plant health and diagnostics, turf management, pesticide application and more.

Specialists were also onsite to provide free plant diagnostics and the UT Kitchen Divas held cooking lessons inside the center.

Visitors attended information sessions held by experts who donated their time, and the event also featured garden tours, crafts, kids’ activities, and wagon tours of the research center.

But it’s the UT Gardens which draws the most attention.

The Gardens are full of hundreds of flowers, trees, shrubs and just about every local plant a visitor could imagine.

Visitors could shop the plant sale, and other local vendors were available.

Visitors could also tour the grounds to find new ideas for what to plant in their own backyard or maybe even make the decision to start gardening for the first time.

But the event is changing its traditional schedule from an annual event to a biennial event, which means the next Summer Celebration is scheduled for 2025.

(PHOTO: Jason Reeves, curator, West Tennessee AgResearch & Education Center)