Falls Church Garden Club

Since 1950, in Falls Church, Virginia

Spring Plant Sale

The Spring Plant Sale is not only our main event of the gardening year, it is our biggest fundraiser, and it provides much of the funds necessary for the club to operate. Club members volunteer to work together in digging, donating, gathering, potting, marking, pricing, transporting, setting up, and selling plants. The Spring Plant Sale is a terrific opportunity for FCGC members and non-members to come together and share their love of plants and horticulture.

2008 Date: Saturday, May 10, 2008— from 8:00 AM until 11:30 AM (or until we run out of plants). Come early; the really good stuff goes fast!

Location: Falls Church Community Center Gym, 300 Little Falls Street, Falls Church, VA.

Non-club members: The event is a FCGC long tradition and is open to the public at large; admission is free. Although the sale runs for the entire morning, choice plants sell out very quickly, and it is not unusual for half of the plants to sell within the first hour. Plants are locally grown by our members, who are also on hand to answer questions. Often, you can talk to the gardener who donated a particular plant, if not to others who have experience with it. It’s a garden plant sale: although the prices are a fraction of what you would pay in a commercial establishment, cultivar names are often unknown. Selection varies greatly from year to year, although the backbones of the garden are always represented. Big or little treasures do show up, depending on what our members donate (orchids, tree peonies, or hardy cyclamens may be for sale, for example). You may depend on herbs, trees, and shrubs, sun lovers and shade seekers.  In summary, you’ll never know what may be found, but it’s fun and inexpensive. Just make sure to be there early for the best selection.

 

FCGC members: You’ll be reminded at meetings and through the Seedling newsletter of what you can do to help the Spring Plant Sale succeed, both financially and in reaching out to the community in sharing plants and expertise. Here are some of the things you can do to support the sale:

· Pot up the divisions from overgrown perennials and self-sown seedlings.

· When starting plants from seeds, start a few extras to donate - annuals and herbs are always very popular.

· Root cuttings early (rosemary, lavender, fuchsia, sedum, fig, geraniums, and pelargoniums are just a few examples that can be propagated from cutting fairly easily).

· If you have large perennials, shrubs, etc., that you’d like to donate but are unable to dig, please call one of the co-chairs with specifics ASAP so that we can make arrangements to dig the plants.

· VOLUNTEER for one or several of many necessary tasks associated with the sale preparation or the event. 

· Talk to your friends or neighbors, and tell them about the sale!