The Snohomish County Master Gardener Foundation has celebrated its purpose and supported its efforts with an annual plant sale for quite some time. Sharon Collman, Extension Educator and long-time supporter of Master Gardeners, reflects:

“My recollection is that it started in 1986. When MGs wanted a sale, I suggested that, since it was the Washington Bicentennial, they collect horticulture stories from our early history—recollections of grandmas’ gardens, favorite old cultivars, the way we used to do things. Mary Winespear had just collected all the stories of the Riverside area of Everett. I asked her to take it on. Then the MGs rented a space at the old drive-in theater’s swap meet and held a plant sale out of the back of their trucks. Gardeners like plants. The Foundation printed and sold 50 booklets. They won an award for the booklet.”

As early as 7:00 in the morning, hundreds lined the road along McCollum Park, patiently waiting for the 9:00 a.m. opening of Snohomish County Master Gardener Foundation’s Annual Plant Sale. On May 5, 2012, the sale marked its 27th year. Some 500 people entered in the first ten minutes.

Among the most popular items were Janice Tallman’s sedum chairs and frames. The abundant, colorful inventory was an instant hit with customers. This art sold out before 11:00 a.m. It was so popular that Janice gave a class to over 30 fellow Master Gardeners, who helped stock the wildly popular plant sale with the frame art. Many of us are already hunting for appropriate chairs and frames for next year’s event.

In addition, the plant sale featured over 8,000 vegetable and tomato plants, all started by Master Gardeners. Thanks to Jeff Thompson and his tomato team, there were over 140 tomato varieties alone, including an heirloom variety from Jeff’s grandmother’s garden.

More than 5,000 perennials were available, as were native plants and trees. Master Gardeners wore “Ask Me About __” badges indicating their expertise in various areas, including rain gardens. Customers left knowing how to handle their newly acquired flora.

This year, in addition to select area vendors, we included a number of our Master Gardener artisans in the venue. Garden art in concrete, metal, and glass was well received.

Thanks to our treasurer, Sheila McKinnon, we added credit cards to our payment options, increasing customer sales and satisfaction using smartphone technology.

Many Master Gardeners have developed their own niches. Janice Tallman, for instance, not only created her famous sedum chairs and frames but also grew 600 pepper plants in her home in 2011. Julene Wright has been growing lettuce bowls from seed, beginning in February for several years—these have become very popular. Other Master Gardeners specialize in various veggie starts, such as carrots in milk cartons, a method Lynn Harding learned from friends in Norway. This method allows gardeners to have beautiful early carrots, which can be planted directly into the ground with the carton.

Of course, team spirit was strengthened with delicious fare. This year’s menu and kitchen team were overseen by Jackie Trimble.

The list of creative contributions goes on and on. Our volunteers possess endless creativity, and our customers return the first Saturday of every May looking for more of what they got last year… and something new. It’s no coincidence the SCMGF Plant Sale falls just before Mother’s Day.