CONWAY — Those looking for the perfect Mother’s Day gift may find just the right thing at the Faulkner County Master Gardeners’ plant sale.
The annual event will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Conway Expo Center, 2502 E. Oak St. There is no admission charge.
Local gardeners have been hard at work for the past several weeks digging, potting and pricing plants taken from their own gardens, as well as those of others. There will be all sorts of plants to choose from — trees, shrubs, grasses, irises, daylilies, annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, houseplants and succulents. Hanging baskets will also be available.
“We’ll also have garden art, garden gloves and guest speakers,” said Betty Baxter of Conway, plant sale committee chairwoman.
“One new thing we are offering this year is tool sharpening — at no charge. James Hyatt of Conway, who is a member of the 2015 class of Master Gardeners, will be doing this for us,” she said.
“Another new thing this year will be the raffle of a handcrafted potting table built by Archie Musselman of Conway, who is the husband of one of our members, Joyce Musselman,” Baxter said.
Raffle tickets are three for $5 and will be available at the plant sale. The winner must be present to pick up the table by the end of the sale.
“Master Gardeners will also have displays and will be doing how-to demonstrations.”
This year’s guest speakers will be Janet Carson of Little Rock, horticulture specialist with the University of Arkansas’ Cooperative Extension Service, and Bob Byers of Hot Springs, associate director of Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs. Carson will speak at 9:30, Byers at 11.
Baxter said some local nurseries have donated items to the sale, including Culberson Greenhouses in Mayflower, Freyaldenhoven’s Greenhouse in Conway and Good Earth Horticulture in Menifee.
She said plants will be “reasonably priced.”
Proceeds from the plant sale are used for scholarships, as well as to support the Master Gardeners
program, which is sponsored by the Faulkner County Cooperative Extension Service.
“Last year we gave four scholarships,” Baxter said. Scholarships are normally awarded to high school seniors or college students from Conway, Faulkner and Perry counties who are pursuing postsecondary degrees in a plant-science-related field, which includes, but is not limited to, horticulture, botany, agronomy, forestry, turf management and landscape architecture or design.
“I would love to see us increase our program and maybe give mini-grants to nonprofits,” Baxter said. “I plan to suggest this next year. If we have any plants left over from the sale, we will give them to nonprofits.” Baxter added that some plants might be given to a group that is helping tornado victims in Mayflower.
Sunnie Ruple hosted a plant dig earlier this month at her home in Vilonia.
“We will have eight to 10 total digs,” she said. “We had about 8,000 plants at last year’s sale. We are shooting for that same amount this year.
“We have a good time when we get together to dig plants,” said Ruple, who is an Advanced Master Gardener. “We work hard, but we have a good time. It’s a big social event for us.”
Mary Johnson of Conway, dig coordinator, said the Faulkner County Master Gardeners are all volunteers.
“We work on a variety of projects throughout the community,” Johnson said. Among the group’s projects are the gardens at the Faulkner County Library and at the Faulkner County Courthouse.
“We want our community to be attractive,” Johnson said. “We want to get more people involved in enhancing their gardens.”
For more information on the Faulkner County Master Gardeners’ plant sale or program, contact the Faulkner County Cooperative Extension Service office at (501) 329-8344.