Monroe Garden Club celebrating spring with plant sale

The Monroe Garden Club will help the community celebrate the spring planting season with its annual plant sale at the East County Senior Center.

The sale takes place 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7, in front of the senior center at 276 Sky River Parkway in Monroe. Proceeds from the sale will help fund community beautification projects, such as flowers for downtown hanging baskets, and a horticultural scholarship available to a student in the Sky Valley. The garden club will accept plant donations from the public noon to 5 p.m. Friday, May 6, at the senior center.

Multiple events will be occurring inside the senior center at the same time as the plant sale, including a spring bazaar and bake sale. The bazaar will feature handcrafted items, with proceeds supporting senior center programs.

The Monroe Garden Club was founded in 1952 and boasts about 50 members. The group meets once a month, often at the Monroe Methodist Church, and is active in the Monroe community. Each year they donate money and time to the city of Monroe to ensure that hanging baskets along Main Street are filled with colorful flowers. Some club members also volunteer at the Julia V. Morris Centennial Garden near the Sky Valley Food Bank.

The horticulture scholarship is awarded annually, and this year has been broadened so that more students are eligible. -á -á

Garden club meetings feature horticulture-related presentations given by guest speakers from around the region, and sometimes they go on field trips. During last month's meeting, the garden club gathered at Pine Creek Nursery for a presentation by Pine Creek design specialist Lori Heffner.-á -á

Located just outside of Monroe on Sofie Road, Pine Creek Nursery is a gardener's paradise. Owned by Monroe residents Paul and Gwen Sayers, the nursery features an extensive variety of annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, gifts and garden art. They provide bulk materials, such as topsoil, bark and mulch, landscape design consultations and are also an events center.

Heffner gave garden club members an overview of container gardening, which is a way that anybody can have a garden, even people living in apartments or condos. Container gardens can be created in pots of any size, and include like flowers, trees and edible plants.

"My passion here is design, primarily in container gardening. It's gotten really popular in the last couple years,GÇ¥ Heffner said. "I love it because it's instant gratification.GÇ¥

Heffner introduced the "thrill, fill and spillGÇ¥ concept, a strategy to ensure that container gardens are lush and interesting to look at. The "thrillGÇ¥ is considered to be the showcase of the pot, and should be something unique that catches the eye. Heffner loves incorporating dwarf trees into pots, which can make excellent thrill plants, she said. She showcased several varieties, including a dwarf black locust tree, a dwarf blue sparkler larch, a curly pine, lemon cypress and a golden full moon maple.

"You want to use a dwarf tree,GÇ¥ Heffner said. "A slow-growing dwarf tree is even better.GÇ¥

The "fillGÇ¥ refers to a variety of plants that can be used to fill in the space around the "thrill.GÇ¥ Annual flowers like pansies are affordable and make a great filler material.

"When I'm working with a customer and they're going to go home and plant something up, I always have them take pansies home as insurance,GÇ¥ Heffner said. "You're always going to find a place in your pot that's blank.GÇ¥

"SpillGÇ¥ plants are considered the final component of the container garden. Spill plants add an exotic touch, as they are typically vining-type plants that spill over the sides of the pot. Ground covers will typically cascade down over a pot, making them great spill plants, Heffner said.

Heffner gave garden club members several ideas to help create vibrant container gardens. Adding something like lemon thyme not only looks great, but also features a beautiful scent, she said. Container gardens are also a terrific way to enjoy plants that otherwise might be considered a nuisance.

"The thing that's cool about a pot is something can only grow to a certain size,GÇ¥ Heffner said. "So, if you love a plant that's invasive, try putting it into your pot. It's a great place for something like that.GÇ¥

Heffner demonstrated ways to create texture and color, using grasses, heucheras, vinca major, euphorbia, ascot rainbow, candytuft, lithodora, English daisies and forget-me-nots. Having a variety of color is great, she said, but contrast is important and can be used to spotlight certain things in the pot. -á -á

"I like to place something that's solid green in my pot, a lot of the time to feature something else,GÇ¥ Heffner said. "Especially if you're into variegation, then you've got to have something there that's quiet.GÇ¥-á

She advocated for perennials. Container gardens made from annuals can be inexpensive to put together, but when Heffner is creating a new garden, she prefers that it have some longevity. Annuals can be tucked in and removed at any time throughout a season, she said, but hardy perennials are a great way to enjoy a pot year round.-á -á -á

"When I focus on a pot, I really want to enjoy it all four seasons,GÇ¥ Heffner said. "But that also takes some money GÇô you have to invest in the plants.GÇ¥

For more information about Pine Creek Nursery, visit www.pinecreeknursery.com/nursery.