RUSSELLVILLE — Pope County Master Gardeners have been hard at work for the past few weeks, growing, gathering and potting plants for their annual plant sale. Frank Russenberger of Russellville has been doing his fair share of the work, plus a little more.
Russenberger, who is also a woodworker, has built three special items that will be sold during the plant sale, which is set for 8 a.m. to noon May 6 at the Pope County Fairgrounds, 500 S. Knoxville St. He crafted two potting tables, one with a cutout space that contains a storage bin for potting soil, as well as a wheelbarrow or rolling bench, which is a bench attached to a wheelbarrow running board, making the bench mobile.
He will also sell a variety of handcrafted wooden signs expressing such maxims as, “Gardening: cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes” and “Master Gardeners love it when you talk dirt to them.”
Originally from Little Rock, Russenberger and his wife, Linda, have lived in Russellville since 1997. He retired a few years ago after 34 years with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, the last 11 in Russellville as a district manager.
“I’ve been a Master Gardener for 13 or 14 years,” he said. “I’m aiming for 15 years, which will make me a lifetime member.
“I grew up gardening, … growing vegetables,” he said. “When I got here, where I don’t have much sun in the yard, I switched to flowers.
“My favorite plant recently, for about the past six years, anyway, is the rhododendron,” he said. “Historically, it has not been very popular here. It is a Northern plant; there is usually not enough cold weather here. But during the past several years, a horticulturalist has hybridized a plant that will grow in the South.
“I recently attended a meeting of the Ozark Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society (headquartered in Grove, Oklahoma) and brought back some cuttings and seeds.
“I will have some rhododendrons at the plant sale,” Russenberger said. “I hope to encourage others to grow this plant.”
Russenberger said the Master Gardeners program has been beneficial to him.
“Master Gardeners is not only a service organization in the community; it will also help you gain knowledge and skills for planting your own garden,” he said. “You do not have to be a horticulturist to be a Master Gardener. We have members at all levels and from all walks of life.”
Meg Fox, president of the Pope County Master Gardeners, as well as chairwoman of the plant sale for the sixth year, said last year’s plant sale was “phenomenal.”
“We are hoping we can do as well this year,” she said. “Frank has been gracious to donate these items for our sale. We will pay him for the cost of his materials, of course.” Russenberger’s potting tables are priced at $125 for the smaller one and $225 for the larger one with the storage bin; the wheelbarrow bench is priced at $165.
Fox said the plant sale will feature a wide variety of items again this year, including annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, trees, shrubs and native plants.
Fox said she will bring several items for the sale.
“I have about 200 tomato and pepper plants,” she said. “I will also have two varieties of heuchera, which is a shade plant with really nice foliage, and some vitex, or chaste, trees, which bloom in the summer.
“We will also have the more well-known plants, such as hosta, coreopsis, coneflower, rudbeckia and sedum,” she said.
“We have a new class of Master Gardener trainees who are graduating at the end of the month,” Fox said. “Out of the class of 23, 20 are from Pope County.
“We are real excited about having some ‘new blood,’” Fox said, laughing. “They will be experiencing their first plant sale.”
Proceeds from Saturday’s plant sale will benefit the many programs of the local Master Gardeners.
“Our Master Gardeners volunteer over 2,300 hours each year in the various projects here in Pope County,” said Phil Sims, county extension agent and staff chairman of the Pope County Cooperative Extension Service. “They not only serve as ambassadors for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and its many programs, but they many times step outside of their comfort zones when taking on projects.
“One example of this is their work with youth who are at risk in our community,” said Sims, who is the adviser to the local Master Gardeners. “[The Master Gardeners] not only teach [the youths] how to grow things but serve as positive mentors to them.”
Fox said this program for at-risk youth is the Garden of Hope, with two locations — one at B and Commerce streets, and the second at Fifth and Boulder streets. The Master Gardeners work with these gardens in conjunction with the Pope County Juvenile Probation Office.
“We mentor youth while teaching gardening skills,” Fox said.
Fox said the Master Gardeners’ projects include the following:
• Dardanelle State Park, with two gardens, the heritage garden and a butterfly garden: “We help maintain these with the Arkansas State Parks interpreters,” Fox said;
• The Pope County Wellness and Senior Activity Center: “We maintain their flower and foundation beds, their pond area and the containers in their courtyard,” Fox said;
• The Hospice Memorial Garden and Memories Garden at Washburn Park;
• The Dover High School gardens; and
• The Pope County Fair, where Master Gardeners oversee the horticultural entries and serve as hosts for the education and horticultural buildings during the fair.
“The plant sale is our only fundraising event,” Fox said. “It provides for our programming, as well as for our scholarship at Arkansas Tech University (in Russellville) for a junior or senior majoring in horticulture or business agriculture. We give a $500-per-semester scholarship.”
In addition to Fox, other officers of the Pope County Master Gardeners include Margaret Pinder of Dover, vice president in charge of publicity; Roger Fryar of Russellville, vice president in charge of programs; Ramona Hodges of Russellville, secretary; and Linda Russenberger
of Russellville, treasurer.
For more information on the Master Gardeners program or its plant sale, call the Pope County Cooperative Extension Service at (479) 968-7098.