Once a year, a certain madness comes over Patrick County.
It doesn’t affect everyone, but those it affects really go nuts.
It’s the Patrick County Master Gardeners Plant Sale.
There’s nothing like it in the world. It is a wonderland for plant lovers and gardeners and dreamers.
One Saturday each spring, the Stuart Rotary Building is arranged chock full of plants. There’s a huge pile of boxes near the door. The middle has five or six long rows of tables with plants in categories, then alphabetical order.
Going around the outside of the room, larger items are arranged in categories: hostas and ferns and something else along the first wall; then daylilies, irises, daffodils and similar items along the next; trees and shrubs along the back wall; then, up on a stage-type thing once we’re headed back toward the boxes, rows of house plants.
Each plant is labeled, and signs in each section give pictures of each plant and information on its care and growth patterns.
And the prices? Honey, they are a third or a quarter of what you’d find in the store, or maybe even less. I put the back seats down in my Honda, which makes a large area, and I can fill that car to the top, even with stuff on the front seat so there’s barely room for me, for about $120.
Dozens of Master Gardeners, easily identifiable in green shirts and vests and name tags, circulate, answering questions and giving advice.
The plant sale coordinator, Ginnie Conaway, told me that a major goal of Master Gardeners is educating the public, which is why they are so helpful with information. The chapter president, Ed Coleman, said having low prices is another way to make gardening more accessible to people. All together, they said, everything they do with the plant sale is with the aim of making people successful in gardening.
And here’s another thing: These plants all come from the Master Gardeners’ own gardens. That means they’re not just tried and true, but also do well enough to grow in extra amounts, enough to share.
And their loyal customers, or shall we call them fans, appreciate it.
I, who find it a challenge to get out of the house every weekday by 8:45 a.m. to get to work on time, somehow miraculously am leaving out my driveway before 7 a.m. on that one Saturday of the week, all hyped up like a teenager going to a Taylor Swift concert.
By the time I arrive, the line is already 20 or 30 people long, waiting for the 8 a.m. opening of the door.
Last Saturday that line was no exception, even in the pouring rain. I’m here to tell ya, these people mean business.
In its earlier years, a lucky shopper would have a partner along to stand guard at the pile of things to buy. Those without a partner would just pick up plants, put them in an empty spot if they are lucky enough to find one, and pray no one would take any, until ready to check out.
A few years ago, the Master Gardeners instituted a Holding Area, a long rectangular spot separated by netting. You walk in, get a number, and set your plants in the section labeled with that number.
I have a routine of going through that plant sale, as probably everyone else does too: Rush for the sections with plants I want most (which is silly, because there are always plenty), and load up my section of the Holding Area, then rush to another section. Then I rush through the tables in the middle of the room.
After my first go-through, it’s on to Phase Two: Walk around more leisurely, chatting with folks, and going back over all the plants a second time, to look more closely, and read labels, and think what might go where in my gardens.
Phase Three is the cooldown, where I could check out if I want to, or socialize and have a little fun. Last Saturday, I enjoyed chatting with A.C. and Lucy Wilson. Then Lucy was ready to go, but A.C. was still enjoying some socializing. Their SUV was backed up to the big double doors in back, and their plants were on a long rolling cart. I went over cheerfully to start loading plants for them, since Lucy was standing there waiting on A.C. to do it.
“You don’t have to do that,” Lucy said. “A.C. will come do it if he finishes talking.”
“That’s OK,” I replied. “I want that cart!”
Despite the wild chaos of the energetic shopping gardeners and the long line at checkout, the checkout process is deceptively efficient. As soon as you’re done, a Master Gardener or two comes over to your area and tallies up the price. You’re out in a jiffy.
You drive home in a haze of excitement, only to have reality sink in upon arrival.
Where will all those plants go?
Silly me, I hadn’t cleared any areas for new beds, because I was only planning to get “just a couple of things if I find anything interesting.”
That also was my plan for the past few Master Gardener plant sales, and clearly, I didn’t learn any lessons from that.
