news-record.com

When gardeners are asked to explain what exactly are passalong plants, they usually smile and think of the friend, neighbor, or relative who gave them the transplant that is now thriving in their own garden.

That transplant can be a whole plant, a division of a plant, the seed or rooted propagation of a favorite plant. Generations have shared their own gardens this way, thereby maintaining and passing along old, treasured stock of perennials, shrubs, trees and even flowering and vegetable annuals.

For the past nine years, the Guilford County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers have continued this gardening tradition with the Passalong Plant Sale held every spring at the Guilford County Extension Agricultural Center.

What began as a modest supply of plants dug mostly from the gardens of Master Gardener Volunteers has become a highly anticipated event offering not only plants from their gardens but from the gardens of other gardeners throughout the community.

Part of the pleasure for both the Master Gardeners and those who come to buy is the thrill of finding a rare or much sought after plant. Many of our gardeners go to various sites often found by word of mouth; there they are armed with shovels, bags of soil, pots, and lots of energy as they pot up their finds.

These plants go to either a Master Gardener’s home or to the Demonstration Garden for careful tending until the plant sale. Over the years we have sold untold numbers of hellebores, Japanese maples, ground covers, ferns, heirloom vegetable plants, herbs, wide varieties of Hosta; and the list goes on. In addition to the passalong plants, colorful geraniums, a variety of ferns, garden accessories, and rain barrels will be offered for sale. And we try to keep the pricing below retail prices.

During the past three years, the plant sale has grown into the Passalong Plant Sale and Festival, which not only offers the same abundance of plants for sale, but also serves as an educational source for those who attend. Information booths help answer gardening questions; gardening talks are presented in the barn kitchen; the “worm man” will explain the importance of worms in the soil. There also will be other vendors, snacks, raffles and hotdog sales at noon.

The primary purpose of the Passalong Plant Sale and Festival is to fund the many educational projects throughout the year. As the major fund raiser for the Guilford County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers, the plant sale ensures that outreach programs such as Youth Outreach, the Infoline, the Demonstration Garden, the Community Garden Outreach, the Gardening Gala and Seminar, the Speaker’s Bureau, and the Passalong Plant Sale and Festival will continue for another year.

The Passalong Plant Sale and Festival, a great way to start the growing season with wide choices and amazing bargains, is a two-day event beginning Friday, May 8 from 9 am through 3 pm and continuing Saturday, May 9 from 9am through 12 pm at the Guilford County Agricultural Center, 3309 Burlington Road, Greensboro, NC.

All gardeners, experienced or novices, are encouraged to join generations of gardeners by becoming part of the passalong community.

For more information you may call (336) 375-5876 .

Virginia Atcheson lives and gardens in Greensboro and has been a Master Gardener for 8 years