The Trial Garden located in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden was originally established in 1991 as an annual trial garden. In the fall of 1993 it was changed to a perennial trial garden. It began with 251 trial beds. There are now 260 perennial trial beds.

The Master Gardeners began working in the Trial Garden in 1994. Kathleen Cook with the Botanic Garden is the landscape architect in charge of this project. Nancy Taylor has been the Master Gardener Project lead since 2016.

The first data was collected by the Master Gardeners in the spring of 1994. The Master Gardeners have been regularly collecting data each year since then. The goal of the Trail Garden is to identify perennial cultivars that will perform well in the average north central Texas garden. Each year the pervious year’s data is evaluated and a list of the best perennials is distributed to the public at the Botanic Garden as well as at local nurseries.

The garden is open to the public to view the various perennials during the growing season. Currently eight Master Gardeners work every Thursday in the Trial Garden.

Future plans are to test new perennials and test varieties of perennials. At this time there are no plans to add additional beds.

Project Lead:	Nancy Taylor
Contact Info:	In Membership Directory
Workdays:	Thursday
Time:	7:30 am (Summer), 8:30 am (Winter)
Address:	1321 E. Lancaster Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76102
TCMGA Activity Code:	Public Community Garden