Master Gardeners set plant sale for Saturday in Spa City
HOT SPRINGS — The Garland County Master Gardeners invite the community to “Come Bee With Us” at their annual plant sale, set for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Hot Springs Farmers & Artisans Market, 121 Orange St.
There is no admission charge. Patrons are encouraged to arrive early for the best selection of plants.
Diane Daniel of Hot Springs Village, past president and chairman of this year’s Plant Sale Committee, said the event will feature native plants, bee and butterfly plants, and a variety of bee balm and milkweed plants to attract bees and butterflies. There will also be herbs, annuals, perennials, hanging baskets and more.
A group of the local Master Gardeners met recently at the home of Marty Lynch to transplant milkweed, which, Lynch said, is especially beneficial to the monarch butterfly. Lynch has a greenhouse in her backyard where she has raised the milkweed from seed.
“I am a crusader for milkweed,” Lynch said. “We want to educate and encourage people to buy milkweed.”
Lynch said she first educated herself about growing milkweed, then ordered seeds and plants from a site she found online.
“Last year, I tried to raise milkweed for the first time,” she said. “I didn’t do too bad. I decided to do it again this year. It’s a fun project for me.
“The butterfly lays an egg on the milkweed; then the egg goes through several stages, hatches into a caterpillar, which then eats the plant,” she said, adding that the monarch caterpillars eat only milkweed. She said milkweed is also a great
source of food for other pollinators, such as bees and other butterflies.
Daniel said Lynch will have a butterfly/bee booth at the plant sale to show which flowers attract these pollinators.
“There will also be a booth on native plants,” Daniel said.
In addition to plants that especially attract butterflies and bees, the plant sale will feature perennials such as Becky daisies, coral bells, variegated Japanese spurge, multicolored iris, a wide variety of day lilies, hostas, Asiatic lilies, purple oxalis and mini mondo grass. There will also be a variety of herbs, such as basil and thyme, and a good selection of annuals. Arkansas blackberries and grapes are also expected to be in the plant sale.
Those looking for early gifts for Mother’s Day will find a large selection of hanging baskets at Saturday’s sale.
Claudette Cooper, 2017 president of the local Master Gardeners group, said this year’s plant sale will also feature a silent auction.
“One item for the silent auction comes from our independent garden group called Steel Magnolias,” she said. “That will be the donation of four hours of their time working in someone’s yard, and this will go to the highest bidder.
“We also have a night on the town with several dinner certificates valued at almost $300, a beautiful stained-glass hanging and a basket full of garden goodies, just to name a few.”
Proceeds from the annual sale will benefit the many beautification projects the Master Gardeners maintain throughout the county. Proceeds also help fund scholarships and educational projects.
“We are a hive of busy bees,” Daniel said, smiling, as she listed a number of the Master Gardeners’ projects, including the following:
• The Hot Springs City Greenhouse, where the Master Gardeners make hanging baskets for the downtown merchants and start plants for the city street-corner garden displays;
• Community education, such as the Ask a Master Gardener Booth set up from May to October at both the Hot Springs and Hot Springs Village farmers markets; the annual Gardening Expo; Know It to Grow It gardening classes at the Garland County Library; and Sow N Till Table presented each month at the group’s general meetings;
• The Garland County Fair, where the Master Gardeners decorate the horticultural building; display 4-H members’ and Master Gardeners’ vegetables and plants; and set up exhibits from other state agencies regarding agriculture, forestry and conservation;
• GEMS, the group’s monthly maintenance project at Garvan Woodlands Garden, and SIG, the gardeners’ Southern Inspiration Garden, also at Garvan Woodlands Garden;
• Habitat for Humanity, which includes landscaping, laying sod and planting trees and shrubs at each Habitat home that is built in Garland County;
• Xeriscape Gardens , demonstration gardens in Hot Springs and Hot Springs Village featuring droughttolerant plants and shrubs;
• The Young Gardeners of Garland County, featuring youth projects at schools in Hot Springs and Jessieville, including vegetable gardens, greenhouses, plants and shrubs;
• County and district courthouses and the police memorial in Hot Springs, where the local gardeners maintain flower beds and shrubs;
• The Hot Springs Farmers & Artisans Market, where members plant and maintain several large garden areas, including a “water garden”;
• Como Square, which features a Confederate memorial in Hot Springs where the group maintains the flower beds;
• Garden therapy at The Caring Place for seniors each month;
• The Langston Alumni Legacy Garden in Hot Springs;
• Entergy Park in Hot Springs;
• Ouachita Children’s Center; and
• The Yard of the Month in Hot Springs and Hot Springs Village.
Master Gardeners also work in the Garland County Cooperative Extension Service office at 236 Woodbine St. in Hot Springs and maintain the flower beds at that location.
Assisting Cooper in leading the Garland County Master Gardeners this year are Debi Atchison of Hot Springs Village, first vice president; Jan Hodges, second vice president; Nancy Morris, secretary; and Tricia Freeman, treasurer, all of Hot Springs. Daniel is past president of the group.
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 230.
Master Gardeners receive training in botany, soil science, pest management and other horticulture-related topics. In
exchange, they donate time and expertise back to local communities by answering questions, working on the specific landscape projects listed above and more.
For more information on the Master Gardeners or their plant sale, contact the Garland County Cooperative Extension Service office at (501) 623-6841.