Myers Park is the Place to Peruse Plants that Perform
When you’re looking at a 4-inch sized annual, a 1-gallon perennial, or a 3-gallon shrub at Shades of Green Garden Center, it can be difficult to imagine what it will look like when it’s full-grown. Sure, you can read the tag or ask one of our professional staff, but learning that a plant will grow 2 feet tall and 4 feet wide isn’t the same as seeing a mature version of that plant.
And what about hardiness? Will the young plant you hold in your hand make it through the heat of summer or a hard winter? What if you forget to water it every now and then? Will it survive?
If only there was some way to know for sure, aside from the assurances of the Shades of Green staff.
Luckily for gardeners in Collin County, there is! We have a demonstration garden not that far away where you can see a large assortment of annuals, perennials, shrubs, and ornamental grasses growing in full-sun and surviving the summer heat and our unpredictable North Texas winters.
Where is this magical place? What is it called?
It’s called the Dr. Greg Church Earth-Kind® Perennial Research Garden and it’s located at Myers Park in McKinney.
Developed by the AgriLife Extension folks at Texas A&M and maintained by volunteers from the Collin County Master Gardeners, the garden is a showcase of plants proven to thrive without a lot of fuss. You’ll find annuals, perennials, shrubs, ornamental grasses, and even some edibles, and each and every one of them is labeled so you won’t have to wonder what it is.
If you’re looking for ideas for your next garden project, or want to see how big Zebra Grass really gets, or want to know what an established Beauty Berry looks like, then you need to make the trip and take a look around.
Master Gardeners are on hand every Wednesday morning from April through October and will happily answer your questions.
So what are you waiting for? Stop wondering if that plant will grow in your landscape, and go see for yourself.
Address:
Myers Park & Event Center
7117 Co Rd 166
McKinney, TX 75071
Hours:
Open Monday – Friday
8am – 4pm
Closed Saturday & Sunday
Additional Info:
- Myers Park & Event Center
- Collin County Master Gardeners
- Earth-Kind®
- 10 Ways to Make Your Landscape Earth-Kind® – This page has a link where you can download at PDF.
- AgriLife Article on the Dr. Greg Church Earth-Kind Perennial Research Garden
- Google Maps – Driving Tip: most apps will take you to the first/main entrance – wide gate, large parking lot, big metal building. If driving north, skip that entrance and enter through the next smaller gate (you’ll see a house that’s the office for the City of McKinney staff). You’ll be able to park much closer to the gardens.
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About the Author: Tim Wardell is a Texas Certified Nursery Professional and the Marketing Coordinator for Shades of Green, Inc.
