ND Gardner was developed at the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center from 2007-2018. ND Gardner originated from DR02 starting in 2007. DR02 is an open pollinated selection released as ND Dylan in 2016. ND Gardner is intended to be used mainly for the cover crop/forage market. It is intended to replace Aroostook. Aroostook is used extensively for cover crop applications. Tall, very early, early season vigor, and winter hardy are the main traits that make ND Gardner desirable for cover crop use. ND Gardner is also a candidate for forage use and could be a replacement for Wheeler rye. ND Gardner is a very early, tall variety with very good winter hardiness and good early season vigor. These attributes make it a good candidate for the rapidly growing cover crop market. ND Gardner is superior to Aroostook for the above mentioned traits. It is ~1 day earlier to heading, has better winter hardiness, early season vigor is greater along with greater biomass production. Seed yields are higher than Aroostook along with better straw strength making ND Gardner a desirable replacement.