Pope County Master Gardeners set annual plant sale for Saturday

Meg Fox and Frank Russenberger look over some of the plants that will be available during the Pope County Master Gardeners’ annual plant sale, which will open at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Pope County Fairgrounds in Russellville.
Meg Fox and Frank Russenberger look over some of the plants that will be available during the Pope County Master Gardeners’ annual plant sale, which will open at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Pope County Fairgrounds in Russellville.

RUSSELLVILLE — The Pope County Master Gardeners hope to fill the education building at the county fairgrounds with plants on Saturday. That’s the date of the group’s annual plant sale, which will open at 8 a.m.

“We’ll be done by noon,” said Frank Russenberger, president of the local organization, which is sponsored by the Pope County Cooperative Extension Service, University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture. “We really never know how many plants we’ll have, but we do our best to fill that building up with plants.

“We raise some of the plants in the greenhouse [at Russellville High School], and members raise the rest of them in their gardens. We never know exactly how many or what we’re going to have until the day before the sale.”

Russenberger said the Master Gardeners started a system last year in which members were asked to notify the committee of which plants they plan to bring and have an information sheet about the plants, as well as photographs of the plants, “so people will know what they are buying.”

“That’s been a real challenge. We had a member volunteer to do that last year. She prints out a computer sheet, laminates it and puts it with the plant.”

Meg Fox, plant sale chairwoman, said one new thing for this year’s plant sale will be an exhibit on the monarch butterfly.

“This year, we are trying to highlight the monarch butterfly and its declining population. We’ll have a display with information available for people to read. We’ll also have plants for sale, such as the traditional butterfly milkweed and swamp milkweed, which we have started from seed,” Fox said.

“Milkweed is the only host plant for the monarch butterfly. Most of the other butterflies have various plants on which to lay their eggs and then for the caterpillar to feed on. Monarchs only use milkweed,” she said.

“We used to see milkweed along the sides of fields and roadsides. The experts believe that the use of Roundup and farmers planting seeds that are genetically modified to be resistant to glyphosate products have led to the decline of milkweed and thus monarchs. The deforestation of the monarch overwintering area in Mexico has also contributed to the declining numbers,” Fox said.

“This is the reason that organizations like Monarch Watch are asking gardeners to plant more milkweed,” she said. “There are many different milkweeds, and you should grow those that are native to your area. We will be offering two that are native to Arkansas — swamp milkweed and butterfly weed.

“Monarchs and all butterflies, bees and hummingbirds also need nectar plants, such as coneflowers, lantana, bee balm, black-eyed Susans and other flowering plants to feed on. There will also be plenty of nectar plants available at the plant sale, too.”

Fox said the Master Gardeners first set up this display on butterflies in September 2014 during the Pope County Fair.

She said the group started preparing for this year’s sale by taking cuttings from plants last fall and storing them in the Russellville High School greenhouse through the winter. Members also started many plants from seed and have kept those in the greenhouse as well.

“We have a working relationship with the high school,” Fox said. “They allow us to store our plants in the greenhouse, and we agree to help them with their projects. They maintain several gardens on the school campus.”

Both Fox and Russenberger plan to donate quite a variety of their own plants to the sale.

Fox will bring coneflowers, rudbeckia, obedient plants and crape myrtle seeds.

She will also have agastache, which attracts hummingbirds, she said.

“It’s one of my favorites,” Fox said. “When we moved here a few years ago during a really hot summer, this was about the only thing I could get to grow. It’s from the Southwest and loves a dry climate. The birds and bees love it, too. I grew my plants from seed.”

Fox said she has a total of “100 or more plants” that she plans to bring to the sale.

Among the plants Russenberger plans to bring are mahonia, or Oregon grape, which is an ornamental shrub; oakleaf hydrangeas; brugmansia, or angel’s trumpet; and datura, or devil’s trumpet.

He said thornless blackberries will also be in the sale.

Fox said there will be no outside vendors or speakers this year.

“The Master Gardeners will be available to discuss plants and answer questions,” Russenberger said.

There will also be a garden shed where patrons can purchase “gently used” garden items, such as tools, pots and books.

Proceeds from the plant sale will benefit the many programs of the local Master Gardeners, including the Garden of Hope, which is a project to mentor youth.

The group also gives a scholarship in the amount of $500 per semester to a junior or senior who is studying horticulture at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville. The student has to apply each semester.

For more information on the Master Gardeners program or the group’s plant sale, call the Pope County Cooperative Extension Service at (479) 968-7098. The Pope County Fairgrounds is at 500 S. Knoxville St. in Russellville.

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