Allan Armitage

The Trial Gardens at UGA were started in 1982, when the then young and foolish Allan Armitage and Michael Dirr, along with a number of confused students, plowed some ground and built a wobbly lath area.

                The young and the restless

PanAmerican Seed company was the first believer, and with a bunch of PanAmerican seed and a few dollars, the gardens were born. Today, we receive plants or seeds from almost  every plant breeding company in the world, along with material from perennial plant nurseries, individual growers and gardeners, as well as material Dr. Armitage brings back from his travels. 

The gardens are under the capable hands of Meg Green and her band of student workers.  The website provides information on the best plants in the garden, and in-depth evaluations of all plants trialed.  Our open houses continue to be roaring successes. In 2009, we had over 800 visitors on our commercial and public open house dates. 

The Trial Gardens at UGA are open year  round and are free of charge.  Directions and event dates may be found on the website.

Happenings:

Plantapalozza - April 14, 2012.  Fabulous Greatest sale of Earth, click here for more details.

Commercial Open House - June 20, 2012. Open to all allied trades people, we generally have 175-200 people, great time to see what is new, what plants are performing and to meet and greet old friends. Click here for more details.

Public Open House - July 14, 2012.  A chance for everyone to walk around and take in the glory of the gardens.  We expect a nice crowd and many oohs and ahhs.  For more informatiuon, click here