Mariah the Walking Tree is hoping for good weather on Saturday, April 15. Mariah not only walks, she can talk, and she loves helping with the Cleveland County Master Gardners’ Spring Plant Sale and Garden Party at the Demonstration Garden at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds. The event runs from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.
“We have amazing plants and more this year than last year,” said Master Gardener Lois Cox Marshall who chairs the event. “The styrofoam densifier will again be on-site to demonstrate how we take clean styrofoam and condense it down to be shipped to a factory. Attendees are invited to bring clean styrofoam to be used in the demonstration.”
Marshall said there will be tons of fun children’s activities including a scavenger hunt, making stepping stones, a monarch butterfly booth with coloring sheets, face painting, pinecone-peanut butter bird feeders, the worm hotel and planting seeds that the kids can take home.
Grownups can also join in the fun.
“We will have a raffle for a garden bench and also a lap quilt made by one of our members,” Marshall said.
Master gardeners are already working hard to get ready for the plant sale and, on April 1, students from the University of Oklahoma will join them as part of OU’s annual Big Event.
“It gives them an opportunity to volunteer in the community and it’s great for us to have the manpower,” said Master Gardner Judy Kautz, who serves as the groups PR chair.
“This is our biggest event of the year and it’s how we get our funds to fund the demonstration garden which exists so that the public can come out and see the different types of beds,” Kautz said.
The demonstration garden is educational as well as being beautiful as it allows the public to learn more about different types of gardening as well as to get inspired.
“We’re adding the greenway this year,” said Kautz. “It’s a way to take fallow ground and turn it into an erosion free area that is pleasant to walk on.”
The greenway works like a pathway around or through the garden.
“We also have a new hobby greenhouse. It is an 8-foot by 12-foot greenhouse like you would have in your yard,” Kautz said. “This one is really neat because it has sliding windows so you can get air in and it has heat in it. We’ll use it for the plant sale for the garden party.”
Because it’s heated, the greenhouse let’s you start plants early or save plants over the winter. There are loads of learning opportunities for young and old alike.
“We’ve added a hay bale garden this year to show you how you can plant a raised garden using straw bales and it does not use dirt,” Kautz said. “We have a real active group of new garden students this year. They’ve been through class and part of it is doing hours. Part of their hours are in the garden.”
Three of those are men who are doing some interesting projects you won’t want to miss, she said.