Apr. 20—The Sampson County Master Gardeners' annual Spring Plant Sale is currently underway at the Cooperative Extension Office in Clinton. The sale itself is halfway over, but there are still lots of plants available for those who've yet to stop by.

The sale has been ongoing since April 6, and runs until the end of the month on April 30. Purchases can be made at the Extension Office, 55 Agriculture Place, Hwy 421 South, every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday or by appointment.

"We are having a great sale — we're in the middle of the sale period and we really appreciate all our customers," Master Gardener Sue Williams said. "We're happy to see our repeat customers and excited to meet new customers. We're just really grateful for all of their support."

The current lineup of plants includes Great American Azaleas, Supertunias plus Red and Pink Geraniums — the geraniums at their peak — plus many more more, said Master Gardeners.

"While we're known for our Supertunias and Geraniums, we try to add a diversity just to keep it interesting," Marcia Edgerton, Master Gardener, said. "Our sale is year to year so we want to make sure you're not coming and seeing the same thing every year."

"I think that continues to bring repeaters because they never know what they're going to be seeing when they come," she said.

"Plus we've got a variety of plants for both inside and outside, from house plants, to plants that can go on your porch or deck, to ones you can plant in your yard," Williams added.

All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale helps the group fund ongoing and planned projects they have throughout Sampson County.

Master Gardener Ann Butler shared some insight on just a few of those many.

"When we sell these plants, the proceeds we get will help us do other projects throughout the community," Butler said.

"We have raised beds that we have at LC Kerr and this will help us be able to have plants and to do more outreach there," she said. "We're also partnering with the community college and we're doing a large pollinator project out at the new truck driver training field."

"We are going to have to buy plants and grasses for that project so anything we can sell here will help us towards that effort," Butler said. "Also it'll help with our demonstration gardens we have out here and various other projects that we're asked to do throughout the community."

Nancy Thagard, fellow Master Gardener, also touched on a project they're working on with the city.

"We are working on putting hanging baskets on the poles downtown around the courthouse and the city will maintain them," she said. "What I'd like to see happen with that is that they expand and get more baskets so that people can then sponsor them."

"After that people can put a nameplate on it in honor or memory of someone and keep them all around the courthouse," she added.

The Sampson County Master Gardeners are also working on growing their numbers, thanks to a new class they've started recently, something group members have been really excited about.

"We've got a brand new class that started two weeks ago and we've got 16 people enrolled in that class which has been really good for us," Butler said. "This is the first time we've been able to have a face-to-face experience since COVID. People are itching to get out and get involved and get their hands dirty."

For more information about the Spring Plant Sale, contact Sampson Cooperative Extension at 910-592-7161.

"Anything we can do to raise money to help promote and keep our programs going and expanding makes all our hard work worth it," Thagard said.

"We hope that people will come out and take advantage of these beautiful plants that we've been loving taking care of," Butler added.

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-592-8137, ext. 2588. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our new Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.

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