FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — When you go behind the scenes of the Minnesota State Fair, there are a lot of surprising tidbits to learn about the fair's gardens and gardeners. In fact, there are 11 of them.
- Meander you way around the fair to 130 different gardens on the grounds that are maintained by fair staff.
- It takes two full time staffers plus 10-15 seasonal gardeners to bring these spaces to life each year.
- Much of their work is done either early in the morning before fairgoers arrive or overnight after the lights go out.
- All the grass needs to be mowed. This is one of those jobs that happens overnight!
- Watering all the gardens is another job that gets checked off the list while we’re home sleeping.
- The gate and the liberty bell outside the Horticulture building are covered in 11,500 succulents, all grown and propagated in the State Fair greenhouse.
- Did you even know the fair had a greenhouse? All the indoor plants are grown in the fair greenhouse year-round until they are set out and placed in all the fair buildings just before we all arrive.
- All the annuals were grown from seed of small plugs in the fair greenhouse starting in February and March.
- Some of the cannas on the property are more than 100 years old. The State Fair gardeners have been propagating them for a century!
- The cannas are dug out in October each year, dried and stored in an on-site cellar for the next year.
- In addition to the fair gardens there are also 14 more sponsored gardens on the fairgrounds planted and maintained by gardening groups and businesses.
See you at the KARE Barn!
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