Purdue Extension - Marion County Demonstration Garden

Purdue Extension Marion County Master Gardener volunteers are already busy this spring in the Demonstration Garden. Activities include garden cleanup and new project development. A black privacy fence screen was installed on the west side of our garden fence. The fabric will provide a screen for our garden and a nice background for our . The cloth has aluminum grommets that allow easy installation with plastic zip ties.

Go for the GOLD! All-America Selections (AAS) award winners are new flower and vegetable varieties proven to have superior garden performance. GOLD MEDAL AAS Winners are the best of the best. There are two new GOLD MEDAL Winners for 2026:
Zinnia Profusion Double White Improved
https://all-americaselections.org/product/zinnia-profusion-double-white-improved/
Kale Rubybor (ornamental and edible)
https://all-americaselections.org/product/kale-rubybor/
Photo Source: All-America Selections

More on our 2025 Goth Garden plants: Our Goth Garden area included the following non-AAS plants:
-The most popular of these was the short, crest-flowered Celosia Raven Red or Red Raven (Braniac Red Raven) growing along the circle’s edge.
-Another plant growing along the circle’s edge was the spreading foliage plant Alternanthera Purple Prince
-Coleus Dark Star was another dark foliage plant in the middle part of the circle.
-Next to the tower in the center was Canna Red Futurity.
-A purple-foliage ornamental sweet potato was in the center tower.

Our 2025 Goth Garden plants: The area featured a circle of dark garden plants with a black central tower that held a container of Celosia Burning Embers and a dark-foliage sweet potato vine. In four corners surrounding the circle were plantings of Okra Candle Fire. We used the following All-America Selections (AAS) award-winning plants in our Goth Garden area this year:
-Ornamental Peppers Black Pearl (black foliage with black fruit turning red), Black Olive (green-black foliage and fruit) & Onyx Red (compact plant with dark foliage and fruit):
https://all-americaselections.org/product/ornamental-pepper-black-pearl/
https://all-americaselections.org/product/ornamental-pepper-black-olive/
https://all-americaselections.org/product/ornamental-pepper-onyx-red/
-Celosia Burning Embers (red/burgundy leaves and flowers in the central tower & in a circular ring):
https://all-americaselections.org/product/celosia-burning-embers/
-Dahlia Black Forest Ruby (dark foliage with ruby red flowers):
https://all-americaselections.org/product/dahlia-black-forest-ruby/
-Okra Candle Fire (red stems and leaf stalks with edible burgundy pods:
https://all-americaselections.org/product/okra-candle-fire/

Thank you to Purdue Extension Marion County () for their coordination, support and work with Extension Master Gardener volunteers in the Purdue Extension Marion County Demonstration Garden on the Indiana State Fairgrounds!

In addition, thank you to the following organizations and businesses who contributed to the Purdue Extension Marion County Demonstration Garden in some way: All-America Selections, Court’sYard & Greenhouse, Garfield Park Master Gardener Association, Indiana State Fair, Marion County Master Gardener Association, and Marion County Soil & Water Conservation District.

Many thanks to all of the Marion County () Master Gardener volunteers who planned, planted, and maintained the demonstration garden on the Indiana State Fairgrounds this year! They also harvested the vegetables and delivered the produce to the food pantry. The garden would not be possible without all of their volunteer work.

The total 2025 harvest from our demonstration garden for the food pantry was 1,886 pounds, 1.7 ounces. What’s the value of the produce donation? At an estimated value of $1.97*/pound, the garden produced about $3,715 worth of nutritious food.

*=The estimated value of $1.97 is the average fair value of one pound of donated food product at the national level for fiscal year 2024, determined by the pounds received as of calendar year 2023 and studies performed by Feeding America. Note: The average value of one pound of donated product will vary from year to year based on the mix of product items donated and the current value of the product. Source: Feeding America Financial Report, June 30, 2024, https://www.feedingamerica.org/

Purdue Extension Master Gardener volunteers are still harvesting from the Demonstration Garden. Many food pantry visitors like green tomatoes so a recent harvest included many of those. As of October 28, 2025, this year’s food pantry donation is now over 1,873 pounds. Here are Tomato Zenzei, Sweet Pepper Pick-N-Pop Yellow, & Hot Pepper Aji Rico – all continuing to produce well through the season.

STEAM Theme in the “Goth Garden”: This garden area included two garden ornaments: a raven & a gargoyle sculpture (“Art”). A sign was also placed in this garden area asking a question (“Science”): Why do many plants in this area appear black? The answer related to plant pigments and their role in photosynthesis, and how anthocyanins can absorb the green light that would normally be reflected by chlorophyll, causing the leaves to appear red, purple or even black.

Goth Gardens are not just for Halloween. In one part of our garden this year, we introduced the concept of this type of gardening. Although not new, gothic gardening was listed by Garden Media Group as one of seven garden trends for 2024, according to the Greenhouse Management magazine website. This garden area featured dark foliage and also some near-black, maroon or red flowers or fruit. People liked the broad palette of dark-foliaged plant candidates for use as accents in other landscapes, too. Elements of our AAS STEAM theme in the “Goth Garden” included Science & Art. Look for additional posts on this, and learn more about Goth Gardens from the National Garden Bureau (NGB):
Goth Garden: Spooky and Beautiful
https://ngb.org/goth-garden-ideas/
Best Gothic Plants for a Fall Garden Refresh (includes a link to a goth garden webinar)
https://ngb.org/best-gothic-plants-for-a-garden-refresh/
The Dark and Dramatic Landscape
https://ngb.org/dark-dramatic-landscape/