Landscape Plant Research

Department Of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Landscape Plant Research

Research and demonstration gardens for annuals, perennials and woody plants are located at four different locations as of 2016 due to the construction of a new football stadium.  

            

The Arboretum, Perennial Demonstration garden, Annual and Perennial Trial gardens are free and open to the public any day during daylight hours. The CSU arboretum was the only area not relocated and is still at 630 West Lake Street on the southwest corner of the CSU main campus. The Annual Flower Trial Garden is located at 1401 Remington Avenue (approximately 0.75 mile directly to the east).  The Perennial Demonstration Garden was moved in 2016 across the street from the Annual Flower Trial Garden on the corner of Remington Street and East Pitkin Street.  A perennial trial garden in front of the CSU Center for the Arts (1400 Remington Street) is directly to the south and its purpose is different from the Perennial Demonstration Garden to the north in that the perennial trials are only for newly introduced cultivars to evaluate their performance and survival in this region.  The three gardens along with the CSU Center for the Arts are being developed into the CSU/Fort Collins Garden and Arts District.

There are no state funds directly allocated for the operation of the gardens. The Colorado State University Agricultural Experiment Station, Cooperative Extension Service and Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture assist by partially funding the salaries and research projects of many of the faculty involved with the research gardens. Financial assistance and/or plant materials have come from a number of sources including state horticultural professional associations, Colorado Horticulture Research and Education Foundation, Colorado Floriculture Foundation, Specialty Crops Program, Colorado Garden Show, Inc., nurseries and seed companies across the nation and other horticulture-related industries.

Most plant material is labeled for easy identification. Woody plants have I.D. tags on the north side of the plant.

Numerous Master Gardeners from Larimer and Weld Counties have assisted in the maintenance of the gardens which is greatly appreciated.

The Plant Environmental Research Center (PERC) had been in operation from 1972-2016.  Other areas that were important parts of the PERC include the research greenhouses, research plots and vegetable garden which were relocated a few blocks to the south to 1707 Centre Avenue.

If you desire more information about some particular plant material, please contact the professor in area of expertise listed in the next section.