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Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center

Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center

Trial Garden

The Fort Lauderdale Research & Education Center welcomes you to our Trial Garden site. The primary purpose of the Trial Garden is to do research as well as support teaching and extension programs. Our goal is to provide unbiased evaluations of bedding plant cultivar performance in South Florida.

Plants are evaluated monthly for plant height, width, flower number, and quality. This data will be posted in this site along with pictures of each culitvar.

Moore Kimberly Dr. Kimberly Moore
Envirnmental Horticulture
Phone: 954-577-6328
klock@ufl.edu 

Luci Fisher
Environmental Horticulture
Phone: 954-577-6388
lefisher@ufl.edu 

Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center Trial Garden

Due to its unique weather, the Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center Trial Garden can grow spring- and summer-type plants year round. This makes the FLREC Trial Garden the place for companies to learn about how their plants are doing before the summer hits in the rest of the country.

Climatic Information

  • 26.1 N, 80.2 W
  • AHS Heat Zone 11
  • USDA Hardiness Zone 10a

Soil Characteristics

  • Soil Type: Margate fine sand (1.6% OM, nearly level).
  • Soil pH: 6.74; soluble salts = 0.30 mS/cm; NO3-N = 9.00 mg/kg.
  • NH4-N: 5.00 mg/kg; P = 27.00 mg/kg; K = 3.7 mg/kg.
  • Nematode & Root Insects: Root-knot (Meloidogyne Goeldi), Stubby root (Trichodorus Cobb) and Stunt (Tylenchorhynchus Cobb).

2021 Trial Garden Video