By Donna Thornton/News Editor
This year’s Master Gardener’s annual plant sale required extra work, thanks to an unseasonable cold snap just days before the sale.
After days spent moving plants out of the green houses to “hardy” them for planting, predictions that temperatures would dip below freezing meant Betty Hall and other Master Gardeners had to move many of those plants back inside until temperatures warmed again.
It was no small order, because the plant sale is no small affair. The members have worked propagating many of the plants now for sale. Some plants are donated, Hall said. “We propagate them ourselves and transfer them to pots.” Some others, she said, they have to buy.
From vegetable plants to petunias, the gardeners have much to offer. There are whimsical plants – some using old boots as a planter, or a bird house with a bed of succulents growing on top of it. Succulents work there, Hall said, because they don’t require deep soil to grow well.
Hall said they have about 25 varieties of tomato plants including a number of heirloom varieties. Many people look for specific varieties of tomato plants, she said, and the gardeners’ sale offers more than many retailers. “We have 20 varieties of pepper,” Hall said.
The group offers hostas, coleus, impatiens, azaleas, begonias, verbenas, snowflakes, and some beautiful geraniums, Hall said, just to name a few.
“We have these purple tube flowers,” Hall said, showing off some of the gardeners wares. They are sometimes called hummingbird plants, she said, because they attract the tiny birds.
The Master Gardener’s sale is a once-a-year event fundraising effort. Hall said it goes to a number of projects the Master Gardeners undertake.
“We do landscaping at Habitat for Humanity houses,” she said, “and we try to help fund a scholarship to Auburn.
“We help some of the schools with their outdoor gardens,” Hall continued. The members put a lot of work into the sale, she said, so they can put more into those projects.
Master Gardeners Sale
Friday, April 18
8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 19
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.