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- Jenkins azalea lecture, AgCenter open house set for April 5 in Hammond
(03/12/18) HAMMOND, La. – The annual Margie Jenkins Azalea Garden Lecture Series and Industry Open House will be held at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 5.
This educational event is planned for ornamental horticulture industry professionals, including nursery growers, landscape contractors, landscape maintenance firms, retail garden center owners, managers and their employees. Master Gardeners are welcome to attend.
Registration starts at 8:30 a.m., and a tour in the trial gardens begins at 9.
“The garden tours provide an opportunity for attendees to see exciting new cool-season bedding plants and the return of perennial and woody plants after a cold winter that we hadn’t experienced in more than five years,” said AgCenter researcher Yan Chen.
The lectures follow the tour. Program speakers include Neil Odenwald, professor emeritus and landscape architect from the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, and Dana Brown, landscape architect and principal of the Dana Brown & Associates, Inc.
The overall theme of their presentations focuses on sustainable and manageable landscape design and practices, Chen said.
An optional tour after lunch will feature the olive and tea fields and discussions on how to grow olives and tea plants in Louisiana by AgCenter researcher Jason Stagg and Chen.
Margie Jenkins has been widely known as the Louisiana green industry icon. The azalea garden at the Hammond Research Station was established in 2006 to celebrate her achievements in azalea breeding and in many other contributions to the industry.
The Margie Jenkins Lecture Series was first offered in 2014. This year is the fifth anniversary of this event, and Jenkins will welcome attendees in a video because she will in Arkansas attending the Azalea Society of America national convention.
No registration fee is required for the event, but an RSVP is preferred to get a count for the jambalaya lunch that will be served in the gardens.
Attendees can RSVP online at http://bit.ly/2InF2q2.
The Hammond Research Station is located at 21549 Old Covington Highway (Louisiana Highway 1067) east of Hammond. Driving directions may be found on the research station website at http://bit.ly/2IliKWj.
Additional information is available by contacting the Hammond Research Station at 985-543-4125 or Chen at yachen@agcenter.lsu.edu.
Margie Jenkins addresses the gathering during the dedication of the Margie Y. Jenkins Azalea Garden at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station in 2006. LSU AgCenter file photo by Regina Bracy.