The Limestone County Master Gardeners held its annual plant sale this past weekend, and the crowds came eager to find new items for their yards and gardens. The event was held at their greenhouse behind Athens Middle School, and it didn’t take long for the greenhouse to be emptied.

“It’s getting bigger and bigger each year,” Master Gardner Sarah Jane Steinbeck Reed said of the wonderful turnout at the plant sale.

“There have been a lot of plants go out of here. All the vegetables were gone within the first hour and a half, and we had two full tables,” Master Gardner Denita McElyea said. “People had such a hard winter. Everything dies, so I knew the shrubs and stuff would be a big thing. We had 11 gardenias, and we have one left. I haven’t seen a gardenia in town alive.”

McElyea is sad for the loss of plants due to the late freeze but happy they can help people replace them.

“The Christmas freeze was bad, but what was really bad is it started getting warm and we had those two 20 degree nights. That’s what really did them in,” she said.

This year’s plant sale also featured different vendors, a raffle, silent auction, food trucks, and children’s activities, which gave the sale a festival feel. Families enjoyed the warm weather and activities including Jan Morse, of Florence and her grandson, Driston Green, who was visiting from Summertown, Tenn. Green made his own pinecone bird feeder to take home as well as a hanging basket filled with alpaca fur for the birds to use as nest materials.

The money raised from the annual plant sale helps fund the many Master Gardner community projects and programs. The Master Gardeners provides public education through their activities at the Athens-Limestone Public Library, the Athens Farmers Market and more.

“We do planters at the post office. We have the charity garden where we grow vegetables we donate to LCCI. We help with school projects also,” Master Gardner President Soozi Pline said.

The Limestone County Master Gardners assist at the Julian Newman Elementary School with their outdoor classroom. They also work with area extension programs. Through their annual plant sales they have raised enough money to improve the greenhouse at Athens Middle School.

“We’ve only had the greenhouse for four years. This is actually school property, but they let us use the greenhouse and the space around it. We have raised enough to put all new panels on it. This greenhouse has been here for years, and it was pretty much falling apart,” McElyea said. “We have a good deal with them, and we are almost where we can start working with the science teachers now that we have everything built back up.”

For more information on the many programs offered by the Limestone County Master Gardners visit mastergadners-limestonecountyalabama.org