Master Gardeners set plant sale, show at fairgrounds

Garland County Master Gardeners working with the plants in the greenhouse at Lake Hamilton High School are, front row, Claudette Cooper, left, and Jennifer Jennings; middle row, Carol Scrivner, left, and Sheila McLarty; and back row, from left, Claudette Cooper, Barbara Smith, Marty Lynch and Bev Merritt. The Master Gardeners will hold their annual plant sale and garden show Saturday at the Garland County Fairgrounds.
Garland County Master Gardeners working with the plants in the greenhouse at Lake Hamilton High School are, front row, Claudette Cooper, left, and Jennifer Jennings; middle row, Carol Scrivner, left, and Sheila McLarty; and back row, from left, Claudette Cooper, Barbara Smith, Marty Lynch and Bev Merritt. The Master Gardeners will hold their annual plant sale and garden show Saturday at the Garland County Fairgrounds.

— Patrons of the Garland County Master Gardeners’ annual plant sale will find things a bit different this year. First, the event will take place at a new location. Second, the sale will feature much more than just plants; there will also be a garden show.

The plant sale, which is billed as the 19th annual Plant Sale and Garden Show, is set for 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Garland County Fairgrounds, 4831 Malvern Ave. There is no admission charge, and the public is invited.

“The fairgrounds is a new place for us,” said Claudette Cooper of Lake Hamilton, plant sale chairwoman and 2017 president of the Garland County Master Gardeners. “In years past, we were at the mercy of Mother Nature. I think we had pouring-down rain three out of the past four years. This year we will be inside … and dry.

“Another nice thing is that we will be able to begin setting up for the sale two or three days before and not have to wait until the last minute,” she said. “This will give us more time to unload plants from the greenhouse at Lake Hamilton High School and bring them to the fairgrounds. It will also give individual Master Gardeners more time to bring in the plants they have been digging from their own yards and gardens.”

Cooper said the plant sale will feature hundreds of plants, including annuals, perennials, herbs, hanging baskets, succulents and butterfly plants. The plants will be set up in Horticulture Building 6 at the fairgrounds.

The garden show will be set up in Building 5 at the fairgrounds. It will feature various educational booths and local nursery and garden vendors with a wide selection of plants, tools and yard art, as well as a children’s activity area and a silent auction. Items in the silent auction will include gift certificates, garden labor and yard art.

Three free seminars are planned during the day.

Tana Beasley of Stuttgart, facility manager at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Potlatch Conservation Education Center at Cook’s Lake near Casscoe in Arkansas County, will speak on hummingbirds at 9:30 a.m.

Karen Seal of Little Rock, a volunteer with the Arkansas Native Plant Society, will speak on native plants at 11.

Kitty Sanders of Fayetteville, a volunteer and butterfly-house mentor at the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks, will speak on landscaping for butterflies at 1 p.m.

“We want people to come and spend the whole day,” said Sheila McLarty of Royal, co-chair with Marty Lynch of Hot Springs of the Garden Show Committee. “Breakfast and lunch will be available for purchase at the Garland County Cooperative Extension Homemakers Council Building.”

Lynch said the crafts corner will be “for ages 6 to 96.”

“They will be able to make two different things,” she said. “They can decorate a stone or make a seed ball. These will be fun activities.”

Barbara Smith of Hot Springs, chairwoman of the Greenhouse Committee, worked recently with members of her committee at the greenhouse at Lake Hamilton High School.

“We are ready for the sale,” she said. “We have a lot of good workers here; we’ve been working for several weeks to nurture the plants we are growing from seed and from cuttings.

“We will have at least 100 hanging baskets,” she said. “We have a lot of coleus, two varieties of sedum, herbs — especially basil — begonias, St. John’s Wort, Puerto Rican oregano, daylilies, iris, milkweed, porterweed, muhly grass, coneflowers and much more. Master Gardeners will be stationed throughout the buildings to answer questions about the plants or any gardening issue.”

Cooper said plants will be priced “reasonably.”

“Hanging baskets will be priced starting at $10 each,” she said.

Cooper said proceeds from the sale are used for the Master Gardener beautification projects throughout Garland County. The proceeds also help fund scholarships and educational projects.

“This event is a total team effort,” Cooper said. “Master Gardeners have been growing and propagating plants all year long.”

Cooper said Master Gardeners are volunteers with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service. Allen Bates, Garland County extension agent for agriculture, serves as adviser to the local group, which has a membership of approximately 200.

Debi Atchison of Hot Springs Village serves as president of the Garland County Master Gardeners. Other officers include Sandy Morad, first vice president; Ed Schwass, second vice president; Jennifer Jennings, secretary; and Tricia Freeman, treasurer, all of Hot Springs.

For more information on the Master Gardeners or the plant sale, call the Garland County Cooperative Extension Service Office at (501) 623-6841.

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