(Garden Club Of Ellijay) — The Garden Club of Ellijay will hold its annual plant sale Saturday, May 22, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at the Ellijay Lions Club Pavilion, 1729 South Main Street.
Preparation for this huge plant sale starts each year many months prior to the event. Since the sale was canceled for 2020, this year’s sale is two years in the making, which means an abundance of plants — over 2,200 at last count.
The crowd of gardening enthusiasts who will be waiting for the gates to open May 22 know just what to expect — a massive selection of homegrown plants dug out of the gardens of the members of the local garden club.
Club members will be on hand to help both expert and amateur gardeners choose from the well-priced perennials, shrubs and native plants. A marketplace area in the center of the sale will have an assortment of dish gardens that were recently put together by the club.
The sale will be at the fairgrounds, in and around the Lions Club Pavilion, but spread out in more space than usual. Cash and checks are the only forms of payment accepted for the beautiful plants. The Lions Club requests that you leave your pets at home.
Deer-proof plants are always much requested, and the garden club is ready with a very large assortment of hellebores or Lenten roses.
“Even though deer will eat almost any plant if they are hungry enough, hellebores are one of the most deer-resistant plants. Their beautiful blooms are some of the first of the year, starting in January and continuing for months,” said Kathy Shiner, garden club president.
“I would say almost every member of the garden club has these plants in their garden.”
Ferns are another popular deer resistant option.
Shiner tells us that the annual plant sale is the club’s only fundraiser each year.
“The proceeds from this sale enable the club to fund and maintain the large beautiful flowering planters in downtown Ellijay, the planting and maintenance of the Fort Hetzel monument area on Highway 515, as well as plantings at Kids Kottage and a recent spruce-up at the Gilmer Community Food Pantry.
“One of the garden club’s missions is to beautify Ellijay and Gilmer County, and this sale enables us to earn the money for our beautification projects,” Shiner said.
In addition to the garden club’s projects, proceeds from the sale also fund an annual college scholarship for a local Gilmer County student.