The Purdue Extension Marion County All-America Selections Display Garden won first place in its category in 2017. Photo courtesy Steve Mayer
Since 2013, Marion County Master Gardeners and other volunteers have designed, planted, tended and harvested the All-America Selections Display Garden on the grounds of the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Last year alone, they contributed nearly 2,000 hours working in the garden or interacting with visitors.
Their hard work has paid off. The garden garnered AAS’ first place award in the Foodscaping Landscape Design Challenge in the 10,000 to 100,000 visitors per year category for 2017.
Dozens of All-America Selections award-winning flowers, vegetables and herbs are grown in the garden. The garden also demonstrates various techniques, such as tomato supports, vertical gardening methods, cover crops, types of raised beds and ways to keep insects off of plants. It’s the perfect place to see and appreciate beauty and learn about plants and practices we can use in our gardens.
This year’s garden featured 110 AAS winners, about 30 more than previous years, primarily because there were more early, cool-season plants. Photo courtesy Steve Mayer
This year’s theme illustrated the foodscaping trend of mixing ornamental and edible plants in garden beds. Master Gardeners volunteered 1,058 hours in the garden in 2016. This year’s hours are still being counted.
The 2017 design featured edibles used in landscape beds and flowers with vegetables in raised beds, said Steve Mayer, Purdue Extension-Marion County horticulture educator and coordinator of the AAS Display Garden.
Among the judges’ comments: “Fantastic job for a new garden entry. Flower and veg integration were great. Good use of incorporating edibles into a landscape. Real life application for the end user.”
Among the ornamental-edible plants featured were Candle Fire okra and Hot Sunset pepper. Three pumpkin vines did double-duty as a ground cover under a newly planted tree. All the plants are labeled. One tip: Whenever you visit a garden, take a photo of the plant and its label with the camera on your phone for future reference.
Nearly 13,000 people visited the All-America Selections Display Garden during the Indiana State Fair. Photo courtesy Catherine Corbin
“Foodscaping is not a topic we often address,” Mayer said. “However, the All-America Selections theme this year allowed us to show people that gardens can be both beautiful and edible.”
The food grown in the AAS Display Garden doesn’t go to waste. In 2016, 604 pounds of food was donated to area food banks. This year’s donation is still being tallied, Mayer said.
The garden is on the north side of the fairgrounds, near the Department of Natural Resources building. It is open to the public during the growing season. Access to the garden is usually free, except during the fair. Tell the gatekeepers that you are visiting the Marion County Demonstration Garden and they should let you pass. During this year’s fair, 12,980 people visited the garden.