North Central Research and Outreach Center

Each year, All-America Selections (AAS) invites public gardens across the country to participate in its annual Landscape Design Challenge—an initiative that encourages creative, educational, and visually compelling displays featuring award-winning AAS varieties. For 2025, the challenge theme was STEAM, prompting participating sites to explore the intersections of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics through purposeful garden design.Learn more about the design challenge.

Annual flower trials are hosted at the North Central Research and Outreach Center. This research is an extension of the flower trials occurring at the West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris, MN. Companies such as All-America Selections, Proven Winners, Syngenta, and many others trial their flower varieties here at the NCROC in the field, in hanging baskets, and containers. During flower evaluations we grade the plants based on criteria such as color, uniformity, uniqueness, plant health, hardiness in zone 3, and insect/disease resistance.