Some gardeners shop for plants to fill voids in their gardens. Other gardeners buy plants they “just must have” and then search for spots to put them. Whichever group you fit into, East Baton Rouge Master Gardeners have the plants for you at their annual sale May 10.

EBR Master Gardeners hold their plant sale each year the Saturday before Mother’s Day. This year’s sale will be at the LSU AgCenter’s Burden Center, Essen Lane near I-10, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Master Gardeners have been working all year to provide the public with more than 150 varieties of plants. They’ll have easy-care roses, angelonias, coleus, cacti and succulents, herbs, verbenas, hydrangeas, daylilies, angel trumpets, vines, hanging baskets, morning glory bushes, pentas and many more.

“It is the perfect place to pick up a last-minute Mother’s Day gift,” says LSU AgCenter horticulture agent for East Baton Rouge Parish Robert Trawick. “Choose a hanging basket for a plant-lover or an herb pot for the cook in the family.”

This year’s sale will include many “new” varieties of old tried-and-true plants. Be the first to have any of these: yellow stokesia, whose blooms are sunny yellow with a fluffy tuft in the center and glossy green foliage; Gartenmeister fuschia, which is heat-tolerant; spirit cleomes, which are short and stocky; Pride of Mobile abutilon, whose flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies; Lanai verbena, with flowers that grow in delightful clusters among oblong green leaves that have decorative, scalloped edges; and angelonias, which are summer snapdragons.

“If you haven’t grown angelonias, don’t wait another season,” Trawick urges.

In addition to the large variety of plants, Master Gardeners offer expert assistance. Personnel will be available to offer advice about selections and planting. Have a sickly plant at home? Bring a specimen to the plant health clinic. Experts will be available to help. In addition, there will be children’s gardening activities. It’s never too early to introduce gardening to your children and grandchildren.

To make your shopping experience easier, bring along a wagon and cash or checkbook. Credit cards will not be accepted.

“The Mother’s Day Plant Sale is the one money-making activity of EBR Master Gardeners,” Trawick says, explaining that money derived from the sale goes back into educational activities for the community such as plant health clinics, establishing home gardens for Habitat for Humanity, educational classes at local libraries and children’s programs to name just a few.

Master Gardeners are volunteers of the LSU AgCenter. They receive training and resources from LSU faculty and in return volunteer their time to educate the gardening public. Anyone with a willingness to learn and a desire to help others can become a Master Gardener. Interested individuals can call their local extension office for times and dates of the next class.

“Mark your calendar, and we’ll see you there!” Trawick says.

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On the Internet: LSU AgCenter Master Gardener program, http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/lawn_garden/master_gardener/
Contact: Robert Trawick (225) 389-3056, or btrawick@agcenter.lsu.edu
Editor: Mark Claesgens (225) 578-2939, or mclaesgens@agcenter.lsu.edu