The LSU Hilltop Arboretum will hold its 32nd Annual PLANTFEST! on Saturday, October 3, 9 a.m.–4 p.m., and Sunday, October 4, noon–4 p.m., at the LSU Hilltop Arboretum, 11855 Highland Road between Bluebonnet and Siegen Lane.

A special pre-sale teaser, “Bringing Natives Home,” will be held at the arboretum’s new educational facility on Sunday, September 27, 1–4 p.m. Registration begins at 12:30 p.m. and costs $10 for members, $15 for non-members. LSU Professor Emeritus and landscape architect Wayne Womack and Mila Berhane, owner of Greenhand Nursery, will give a talk about more than 25 native trees, shrubs, perennials, wildflowers, and grasses for the home garden. No matter how much any individual garden may seem like a separate place, a refuge, or an island, it is, in truth, a part of the larger landscape in which native plants are not only beautiful but provide biodiversity needed for a healthy, functioning ecosystem.

After the program the guest speakers will lead a walk through more than 5,000 plants that will already be set up for sale at PLANTFEST the following weekend. The pre-sale teaser is a great opportunity to finalize a plant list in preparation for the sale and to ask experts questions.

For more information or to register for the teaser event, contact LSU Hilltop Arboretum at 225-767-6916 or visit hilltop.lsu.edu or e-mail hilltop@tigers.lsu.edu.