DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire will host its popular Poinsettia Trials Open House Thursday, Dec. 4 through Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014, at the Macfarlane Greenhouses. Visitors to the free event, now in its ninth year, will enjoy more than 100 poinsettia varieties and assist in ongoing research.

The open house, hosted by the Macfarlane Greenhouses, a facility of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Thompson School horticultural facility, is at the greenhouses at 296 Mast Road, on the West edge of campus, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. On Thursday and Friday metered parking is available at the UNH Visitor Center across from the greenhouses; parking Saturday is free. The greenhouses are also served by Wildcat Transit's free shuttle service: www.wildcattransit.com.

Poinsettias on display will go far beyond the traditional red to shades of pink, apricot, and deep burgundy; variegations of red, white, and pink shades; and those with names like Red Soul, Prima Donna, Milky Way, Autumn Leaves, Christmas Ribbons, Harlequin Red, Christmas Wish, Sorbet and Saturnus Marble. Visitors to the trials will assist in research by recording their favorites from among new and different varieties. Completing this survey will enter visitors into a drawing to win a poinsettia. In addition, while on the UNH campus visitors may view the 12-foot poinsettia tree in the lobby of the Whittemore Center, and stop by the Evergreen Fair at the UNH Memorial Union Building.

The Poinsettia Trials is a collaborative event to bring research to breeders, growers, and the public. Similar trials take place at universities and commercial greenhouses across the country, allowing breeders and growers to evaluate regional differences in the growth and performance of new cultivars. This valuable information provides a basis for choosing the best cultivars for a particular growing environment and market.

A broad selection of the many poinsettia varieties will be available for purchase from Thompson School students on all three days and throughout the holiday season. The Thompson School Horticulture Club will again host a wreath decorating activity. Fresh wreaths will be available for purchase, and visitors will be guided by Horticulture Club students to create their own holiday wreath. All proceeds will benefit the Horticulture Club. Learn more here: http://www.thompsonschool.unh.edu/hort/greenhouse-sales.

Founded in 1887, the NH Agricultural Experiment Station at the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture is UNH's original research center and an elemental component of New Hampshire's land-grant university heritage and mission. We steward federal and state funding to provide unbiased and objective research concerning diverse aspects of sustainable agriculture and foods, aquaculture, forest management, and related wildlife, natural resources and rural community topics. We maintain the Woodman and Kingman agronomy and horticultural farms, the Macfarlane Greenhouses, the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, and the Organic Dairy Research Farm. Additional properties also provide forage, forests and woodlands in direct support to research, teaching, and outreach.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,300 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.

PHOTOS
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Visitors to the free event, now in its ninth year, will enjoy more than 100 poinsettia varieties and assist in ongoing research.

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Visitors can tour the greenhouses and see the 12-foot poinsettia tree in the lobby of the Whittemore Center.

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