CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. -- Gardening enthusiasts and horticulture professionals can learn about the latest plants and gardening techniques during the Fall Flower & Garden Fest Oct. 14 and 15 in Crystal Springs.

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As the most popular gardening event in the Southeast, the fest draws more than 5,000 people to the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station each year. Gardening experts will share information on vegetables, flowers, herbs, turf, beekeeping, composting, butterfly gardening and more at the event sponsored by the MSU Extension Service and Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station.

Gates open at 9 a.m. and close at 2 p.m. both days. Educational seminars will be held in three locations simultaneously throughout each day of the fest. Admission and parking are free. Food vendors will offer lunch, desserts and drinks.

Seminar topics include specialty crops, pond management, hummingbird gardens, shade gardening, and insect and disease control. Attendees can also participate in wagon tours of the 175-acre station and informational walking tours of the gardens that showcase All-America Selections winners, Mississippi Medallion winners, and other tested landscape and garden plants.

More than 60 vendors will offer thousands of flowering plants, yard art and gardening tools.

The Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station is located at 2024 Experiment Station Road in Crystal Springs.

For the complete agenda and more information, visit the Fall Flower & Garden website at http://extension.msstate.edu/fallfest or contact the local MSU Extension Service office or Rick Snyder at 601-892-3731 or rick.snyder@msstate.edu.