As guests attend the 2022 Fall Plant Sale presented by the Spring Hill Garden Club, they’ll be honoring the rich tradition of the club and community gardens and supporting its future as well. The plant sale will take place at the Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, 1489 Parker Ave., Spring Hill on Friday, Oct. 7, from 9 am to 2 pm and on Saturday, Oct. 8, from 9 am to noon.
With the inception of the Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, the inaugural Fall Plant Sale came with it. This plant sale is a project of the Spring Hill Garden Club to fund the creation and the maintenance of the Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens were established in 1994, by members of the garden club, an organization that uses a portion of the 4.5 acres as a plant nursery. Overall, this space has expanded into 21 themed areas which comprise the Nature Coast Botanical Gardens. “Since that time, we have grown plants and featured them in our plant sale. This sale makes it possible for the garden club to maintain this land, to keep the gardens running,” said Nursery Manager Kathy Wolfe.
Indeed, organizers agree that the plant sale facilitates the upkeep of the botanical gardens and allows these ethereal, ornamental gardens to remain free and open to the public. “We can use these funds to purchase equipment needed to tend the gardens, and for maintenance,” said Mary Wuest, garden manager. “Recently, for example, we funded the painting of a garden mural and painted our picnic area. These funds also help with plant maintenance.”
The plant sale offers a vast variety of moderately priced ‘tried and true’ plants that are grown in this area. The sale’s featured plants have been known to include Florida natives, herbs, fig trees, many blooming shrubs, a variety of annuals (which in this area, Wolfe notes, last more than just 1 year), orchids, gingers, bromeliads, and many other varieties. “These are Florida native plants for the season,” said Wolfe.
And throughout the sale, a host of Spring Hill Garden Club members will be on hand to answer any questions about the plants that are up for sale.
Aside from the ongoing operations of the gardens, the club also donates to and supports Hernando-based charitable and philanthropic efforts, including K9 Partners for Patriots, People Helping People, and the Operation HeartF.E.L.T. backpack program to feed kids in need. “These are wonderful things,” said Wolfe.
The 2022 Fall Plant Sale offers a whole new meaning to the term “planting the seeds,” and spreading sunshine along the way! For more information about the Nature Coast Botanical Garden 2022 Annual Fall Plant Sale, visit www.Naturecoastgardens.com.
