RAYMOND, Miss. -- Home gardeners and professional landscapers can tour display gardens and attend educational seminars during an upcoming horticultural show.

The Fall Flower & Garden Fest is set for Oct. 11 and 12 at the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs. The fest runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. Admission and parking are free. The station is located at 2024 Experiment Station Road.

In its 41^st year, the event remains the largest home gardening festival in the Southeast drawing an average of 5,000 attendees each year.

Attendees can tour the station’s 3-acre display garden, which includes flowers, vegetables and herbs. Walking tours of the gardens and wagon ride tours of the station’s other research plots will be led by MSU specialists. Topics for educational seminars include specialty crops, pond management, hummingbird gardens, shade gardening, and insect and disease control.

Plants that won the prestigious All-America Selections and Mississippi Medallion Winner designations will be on display.

A new addition to the event is an antique tractor display organized by the Mississippi Chapter of International Harvester Collectors. The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science again will have a live animal petting zoo.

More than 60 vendors will offer plants, yard art and other gardening merchandise for sale. Food vendors will offer breakfast, lunch, desserts and drinks.

Follow the fest on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information, visit the Extension website, call 601-892-3731 or contact your local Extension office.

MSU is an equal opportunity institution. For disability accommodation, please contact Janie Taylor at 601-892-3731.