Asheville – Kick off your 2024 gardening season by choosing quality plants found at the 72nd French Broad River Garden Club Foundation’s annual Plant Sale. Nineteen local vendors will be bringing a wide variety of locally grown plants. Members will bring lovely specimens grown in their own garden. As the days begin to warm up, gardening activities outside begin. Plant choices need to be made for the upcoming summer—what color, what size, which plant goes where. Rare specialty plants can be found at this sale at 1000 Hendersonville Road, Asheville, on Saturday, April 20th from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. This is the perfect place to take the first steps in planning your upcoming garden.
Flat Creek Plant Farm will be bringing premium perennials, fruit trees, and flowering shrubs to this sale. They will help you find the perfect plants for YOUR unique property. They want you to have a lush, thriving, and beautiful yard all year long. For over 40 years The Sandy Mush Herb Farm, run by the Jayne family in Leicester, has been collecting, propagating, and selling herbs, perennials, and other interesting wildflowers that are native to Western North Carolina. They will have tables filled with a full array of their prize-winning herbs, wildflowers, and plants. Tom Ross of High Country Nursery in Fairview will be offering Japanese Maples, other fine ornamental trees, and plants. An amazing variety of stately conifers, dwarf conifers, trees, grasses, and companion landscape plants will be brought to the sale by Bruce Appeldoorn or Appeldoorn Landscape Nursery in Bostic. Horace and Lisa Williams, the owners of Maples N More Nursery in Burnsville, are exceptionally knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their maples, evergreens, and conifers. They have propagated many of their edibles, grasses, and groundcovers.
New this year will be Kim Bailey with Milkweed Meadows Farm. This farm is a 5th generation-family farm. Located along Clear Creek just six miles east of downtown Hendersonville, its grassy “bottoms” once nourished cows that produced milk sold to Biltmore Dairy Farms in Asheville. Today, the meadows are yielding milk of a different kind — milkweed plants to help sustain monarch butterflies! Kim currently produces native wildflower seeds, open-pollinated heirloom vegetable seeds, pollinator-friendly potted plants, cut flowers, and specialty fruits. In addition, Suzanne Nolter of Blazing Star Flowers in Alexander will be bringing lovely bouquets, annuals, and some lush, garden-inspired arrangements to sell. These make lovely gifts, perhaps one should order a bouquet for Mother’s Day.
To round out your home landscape, vendors of all kinds will be there to give you direction and help. Handcrafted organic fertilizer loaded with a host of minerals & micronutrients called Bunny’s Brew can be found to encourage future growth. Kay Miller has been a beloved vendor for many years. She is once again bringing her lovely hand-crafted items and painted garden art. Wesley Angel will be selling his handsome wrought iron, functional garden art pieces. He has lived in the mountains of WNC for seven generations and is a member of the American Welding Society. As he has no online presence, it might be wise to purchase your wrought iron pieces at this sale.
Throughout the day, educational talks on a variety of subjects will be given. Experts will be available to answer all of your gardening and plant questions. To bring a bit of festivity during the sale, The Asheville Ukulele Society will be playing lively tunes.
Proceeds from the Annual Plant Sale support local student scholarships in the areas of conservation and horticulture. The French Broad River Garden Club Foundation was chartered in 1927 and admitted to the Garden Club of America in 1930. The Club is committed to promoting the conservation, development, and intelligent use of natural resources in North Carolina and beyond. Our members are passionate about gardening and its role in promoting healthy living and sustainable environments. The French Broad River Garden Club Foundation strives to promote gardening in Western North Carolina and provide educational scholarships to deserving students.
This plant sale is held on the grounds of Clem’s Cabin, located at 1000 Hendersonville Road, south of Biltmore Village, with easy no-fee parking. Anyone who is passionate about plants or simply wants to learn more about gardening is encouraged to attend. The event will be held rain or shine, so be sure to dress accordingly. Here amongst friends and family, a visitor will be able to enjoy an afternoon of shopping, learning more about horticulture, and visiting with neighbors and friends. Visit: https://www.frenchbroadrivergc.org/events for all the details.