Garland County gardeners sprout new shoot
HOT SPRINGS — The Garland County Master Gardeners Plant Sale and Garden Show just keeps growing.
“We have added a third building this year,” said Claudette Cooper of Lake Hamilton, plant sale chairwoman. “We will have tons of plants. Another new thing this year is that we will all be wearing customer-service vests so our customers can find us easily if they have questions.
“We will open at 8 in the morning and be here until 4 in the afternoon,” she said. “We invite everyone to bring the whole family for a day of fun.”
The Garland County Master Gardeners Plant Sale and Garden Show will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Garland County Fairgrounds, 4831 Malvern Ave. in Hot Springs. There is no admission charge. Breakfast and lunch will be available for purchase from the Garland County Extension Homemakers Council.
The plants will be located in horticulture building No. 6 at the fairgrounds. Vendors, silent-auction items, educational exhibits and kids’ crafts will be set up in arts and craft building No. 5. Additional educational exhibits and additional
vendors will be set up in building No. 7.
Landscape designer Chris Olsen of North Little Rock, owner of Plantopia Home and Garden in North Little Rock and Botanica Gardens
in Little Rock, will be the keynote speaker at 1 p.m. He will speak on Drab to Fab: How to Bring Your Yard from Drab to Fabulous.”
Other speakers will include Ronnie Palmer of White Hall,
president of the Arkansas Chapter, Azalea Society of America, who will speak on azaleas at 9:30 a.m.; Blann Britton of Memphis, vice president
of the Memphis & Dixie Rose Society, who will speak on roses at 11; and Dixie Hills of Little Rock, Southwest regional educator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, who will speak on Arkansas birdsongs at 2:30 p.m.
Paula Jackson of Lakeside is chairwoman of the garden show.
“The garden show or expo is a combination of educational exhibitors and vendors,” she said. “We will have a variety of educational exhibits, including pollinators, particularly the butterfly; how to make papercrete containers; canning and food processing; and how to make hypertufa pots.
“We will have exhibits by the Arkansas Native Plant Society, the Audubon Society, the University of Arkansas Soybean Challenge, the Hot Springs Beekeepers, the Hot Springs Daylily Society, the Ouachita Hosta and Shade Society, and the Clark County Master Gardeners, who will demonstrate ‘lasagna gardening,’” Jackson said. “People will also be able to get soil-sample boxes to take home, fill and return to their local Extension Service office for a report on their soil.”
A small group of Master Gardeners worked recently in the greenhouse at Lake Hamilton High School, where they store and maintain plants until time for the sale. Barbara Smith of Hot Springs, chairwoman of the greenhouse committee, said the plant sale will feature approximately 130 hanging baskets, “just in time for Mother’s Day gifts.
“These baskets will sell for $10 and include five individual plants,” Smith said.
Carol Scrivner of Hot Springs was also among the Master Gardeners working at the greenhouse.
“We don’t buy flowers,” she said. “All of our plants are from Master Gardeners’ gardens or yards. We use plants that the Master Gardeners donate to the plant sale and what we propagate. This year’s sale will have a lot of houseplants and succulents, as well as herbs, annuals, perennials and pollinator plants.
“We have a ball over here,” she said, smiling. “Barbara is such a great leader … so organized.”
Cooper said, “This is so much more than a plant sale. We want people to come and spend the day.”
Cooper said proceeds from the plant sale will benefit the many beautification and educational projects the Master Gardeners conduct each year. Proceeds also help fund scholarships for Garland County students.
For more information on the Master Gardeners or the plant sale, call the Garland County Cooperative Extension Service Office at (501) 623-6841.