Victoria County Master         Gardener Association

Master Gardeners

Plant Sale April 2:  Something for everyone

March 25, 2022

by Marcia Kauffman/Victoria County Master Gardener

Edited by Suzanne LaBrecque/Victoria County Master Gardener

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY VICTORIA COUNTY MASTER GARDENER MARCIA KAUFFMAN

Starfish Cactus



PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY VICTORIA COUNTY MASTER GARDENER ASSOCIATION

Entrance to Victoria Educational Gardens at 333 Bachelor Dr., Victoria, TX

The Gardeners’ Dirt is written by members of the Victoria County Master Gardener Association, an educational outreach of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension – Victoria County. Mail your questions in care of the Advocate, P.O. Box 1518, Victoria, TX 77901; or vcmga@vicad.com, or comment on this column at VictoriaAdvocate.com.

I love the long growing season here in South Texas. In Pittsburgh, my hometown, the growing season was much shorter. In the spring, my family made its annual trip to a local nursery for colorful annuals, herbs and vegetables. We were excited to dig in the soil, plant and watch the yard burst into a flare of color and reap the harvest.

You can have a similar fun family time at the Victoria County Master Gardeners’ Spring Plant Sale from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 2 at the Victoria Educational Gardens (VEG). A map of VEG will be provided so you won’t miss anything. As you stroll through the gardens, you will be able to select different plants and learn about how to care for them from the master gardeners on site.

Planned activities
Demonstrations by master gardeners will be held on the hour from 9 a.m. to noon for about 15 minutes.

• Jack Goodwin will start with a demonstration on compost and its benefits.

• Helen Collins will demonstrate Potting 101 or how to manage root bound and new plants.

• These demonstrations will alternate each hour with the last one held at noon.

Garden plants
After a winter packed with dreary skies and countless nights of frost, gardeners are ready to dig in the soil. You will have the opportunity to buy many plants from blue mist salvia and daylilies to evergreens and desert roses. Another special plant that blooms from spring to fall is the Bells of Fire Esperanza with its fiery red-orange trumpet-like flowers.

Available for sale will be color bowls arranged with selections of blooming plants such as begonias, coleus, salvia and creeping jenny. Also there will be pots of lavender, red pentas, new gold lantana and a variety of succulents.

General Store
At the General Store you can find many treasures including gently used garden tools, garden art and costume jewelry. Other things for sale will be home décor, pots and homemade goodies. The Victoria County Master Gardener Cookbook will also be available.

Pavers
You will have an opportunity to purchase a paver to honor someone in the military for display in the Military Honor Garden. These 4 inch by 8 inch pavers have the inscribed name, rank and branch of the military served and sell for $25.

You can purchase pavers for family and friends that will be installed on the pathway leading to the gazebo for $50. You can also purchase pavers for your own yard. If you do not purchase pavers at the Plant Sale, you can order them on the master gardeners’ website, www.vcmga.org.

Children’s activities
Easter eggs will be scattered in one area for children to find. Each egg will have a slip of paper with a number. Children may turn in the number for a surprise that matches the number in the egg. One treasure per child, please.

Beginning at 10:30 a.m. children will be able to create a miniature garden for $10 each. Boys and girls will be able to choose a bag that contains all the materials needed to build a garden with tiny figurines, small plants and rocks or colored stones. Due to a limited supply of materials, it will be first-come, first-served.

Face painting will be available for children daring enough to have their faces painted.

Each Victoria County Master Gardener Plant sale is unique. I always seem to go to these plant sales with a specific plant in mind, then leave with an armful of “just have to have” plants and other treasures.
Won’t you join us in welcoming spring? Your new plants will make you joyful.