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By Debbie Roland and Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardeners
We have a date for the 2024 Plant Sale! Save the date and mark your calendars for April 20. As you probably know, the pandemic has really interrupted the supply chain for many items, and that includes plants. Several of the suppliers that we have used for many years have businesses that did not survive Covid and we have been unable to give the public the plants we would like to have.
The Permian Basin Master Gardeners, along with Texas A&M AgriLife, have been educating the public on the importance of growing native plants. Native plants are different in the various climates of Texas, and West Texas is certainly no exception to that. PBMG have spent many hours putting together a list of plants that are native and nativar. These plants are proven to grow in the Permian Basin using less water and will also provide food and habitat for pollinators which are in great decline.
A friend recently said that planting for pollinators was like planting Victory Gardens in World War I and II. The original idea behind the Victory Gardens was to garden for the common good and with that thought, Americans created communal gardens. Now, nearly eighty years later it is time to think about Victory Gardens in another way: Victory Gardens for pollinators.
With that goal in mind, this year the PBMG Plant Sale is going to focus on native plants. You can pick out the right plant for your own Victory Garden whether it is in a pot on your patio or a whole yard of native habitat. Gardening for wildlife, especially pollinators is gaining in interest around the world.
We have a local nursery that is growing our plants this year and the plant sale will be located there. Here is the information you need to know:
Date: April 20
Time: 9 a.m. to noon
Location: 3011 North County Road 1160 (Todd Road in Midland)
Payment: Cards, cash and checks
And as always, check out the Permian Basin Master Gardening blog. We have covered in depth many of the topics summarized here. So, get out there and find mental and physical wonder in your garden.
If you have questions, call the AgriLife office in Odessa at 498-4071 or in Midland at 686-4700. Additional information, and our blog for access to past articles, is available at westtexasgardening.org. Click on “Resources”.