If the rainy weather has put a damper on your garden this summer, a second chance is possible with the annual Master Gardener Plant Sale this weekend at Delaware County Fairgrounds.
Annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees will be on sale, with prices as low as $2 a flat. There’s also hanging baskets, herbs and vegetable plants such as tomatoes.
“You can’t beat the prices,” said Cindy Kaelber, Master Gardener coordinator.
Many of the plants are donated from local nurseries, such as Miller’s Country Gardens, Oakland Nursery and Strader’s Garden Centers, Kaelber said.
“A lot of the Master Gardeners will bring in some of their own plants, usually all perennials on a specific table,” said show chair Cindy Bell. “They go real quick, because everybody knows they get the tender loving care they need.”
Thirty Master Gardener volunteers from the Ohio State University’s Delaware County extension will spend Friday setting up the plants (the public is not invited). They will be on hand to answer any gardening questions the public may have.
Both Bell and Kaelber said the earlier you get to the sale, the better the selection.
Proceeds will help support the Master Gardeners.
“It’s our moneymaker for the year,” Bell said.
“It helps to do a lot of our projects throughout the year to help Delaware County – community gardens, the Kids Club,” Kaelber said.
Anything that isn’t sold will be donated to the fairgrounds, Habitat for Humanity and local non-profits.
“It’s like a circle,” Bell said. “We get it donated to us, and then we donate it back to other organizations. I like the sale because we can give back to the community, to help somebody learn about plants, and we can give back to others when we’re done with the sale.”
The sale will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 25 and 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. (or earlier if they sell out) July 26 in the Pig and Lamb barn at the fairgrounds. The Master Gardeners are part of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Science. For more information, visit delaware.osu.edu.
