Mark your calendar for next Saturday to come and visit me in the Gateway Learning Gardens during our annual Gateway Garden Jubilee. This is one of my favorite events of the year and it’s always a great time to see the gardens and meet the Master Gardener volunteers and other crazy gardeners.

I am really pleased and proud of our gardens; they look better than they have ever looked. We have lots of great things in store for you to see next Saturday.

Where else in this area can you find over 800 different plant varieties in one location? We are excited to show you some of the latest and greatest plants as well as some of the tried and true.

The latest and greatest can be found in our field trial plots. In these beds we are testing annuals for their growth and performance in central Ohio. We have more than 120 varieties on display.

We are also demonstrating some of the latest varieties in turfgrass as well as fertilization tips in our Ohio State University Turf Research Plot (one of 11 across the state).

In our perennial gardens you can find some of the newer cultivars as well as some that have been around awhile and are still great plants. The perennial committee renovated the shade garden this year and has added new plants.

Our herb garden consists of 5 different theme gardens as well as a butterfly and hummingbird, sensory, and 2 formal knot gardens. You’ll find containers of plants all through the garden.

In the center of the herb garden is our new memorial bench that is surrounded by our brand new brick path walkway. While you are here, you can purchase a brick to commemorate someone special in your life.

The Victory Garden is really hitting peak production season and you can see all types of different vegetables on display.

Be sure to see the raised bed trails that have 4 different types of soil mixes for raised vegetable gardens. There is a visible difference with some of the blends. Thanks to Buckeye Resources Inc. for donating the materials for this - they will be on hand to answer questions as well.

And don’t forget to stop by the Early Ohio Settlers Garden to see how things were done back in the day. This is a visitor-favorite. We also have some special guests to tell you about how they used to garden when Ohio was first settled.

Vendors with plants and garden items will be on hand as well as the Bloomin’ Strings folk band.

There will be kid’s activities, gardening demonstrations, as well as free hot dogs, popcorn, and drinks will be available during the day.

And best of all, the entire day is free. I invite you to join us next Saturday between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at 4400 Gateway Blvd. in Springfield, Ohio.

Pam Corle-Bennett is an Ohio State University horticulture educator and the state Master Gardener Volunteer coordinator.