Plenty of plants

Cape Girardeau County master gardeners hope to sell every blooming thing they put out Saturday at the group's fifth annual plant sale. Volunteers will begin getting plants ready today, and around 5:30 a.m. Saturday, trucks and trailers loaded with plants will arrive at the Missouri Conservation Shelter at Arena Park to set up the sale. By 7 a.m., said master gardener Anne Foust, rain or shine, the mayhem begins.

"It's really crazy," she said. "It looks like Grand Central Station at 7 a.m."

For five hours people who love gardening will snap up the plants that will make their yards and homes look special this summer. To keep sales orderly, Foust said, the master gardeners will allow serious shoppers to set aside the plants they want to buy until they're ready to pay for all their purchases.

"We have a baby-sitting area where people can set their selections down," Foust said. "They are given a number, which corresponds to the number on the plant, so they can do the rest of their shopping. It worked great last year."

The proceeds from the plant sale support a bouquet of community projects, said master gardener Gayla Gunter.

"What better way to make money than to do what we love?" Foust said.

Each year the group gives scholarships to college-bound high school seniors and existing college students. It donates to the Red House Interpretive Center, the rose garden at Capaha Park, the master gardeners' library, the Cape Girardeau community garden and a variety of other ongoing projects.

Each year, the master gardeners group presents a spring seminar and brings in speakers. The organization has donated to other one-time projects, such as a wildflower preservation project at Cape Girardeau's Central High School and the wildflower trail at Chateau Girardeau.

"All the money we raise goes back into the community," Gunter said. "We just have really a lot of fun spending it."

On Saturday morning, master gardeners will sell plants, offer gardening tips and help customers plant container gardens. Foust said customers are encouraged to bring their own containers, and master gardeners will be available to help them decide which plants to use and how to arrange them. Or, she said, there will also be about 75 ready-made container gardens for sale.

For the first time, the sale will feature perennials. A selection of herbs will be offered, and a master gardener will be available to help select herbs to grow and offer advice about what to do with the herbs. Shrubs, annuals and hanging baskets round out the selection.

Foust and Gunter said that the many volunteers from the Cape Girardeau County master gardeners make the plant sale successful.

"What we're here for is to educate the public," Gunter said. "And we beautify the community at the same time."

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160