Every year, Bullskin resident Glenda Gebert looks forward to the conversations she will have with fellow gardeners at the Westmoreland Garden Council’s annual May Mart plant sale.
“I like talking to people and telling them how you do this, how you do that and what works for me and what doesn’t work for me,” the Fayette County resident said.
Gebert, owner of Garden in the Woods, is one of about 20 vendors slated to particpate in the plant sale, which will be held May 8 and 9 at the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center. She will sell potted plants and deliver a demonstration on how to make live wreaths — filling a wire wreath form with soil, flowers and moss.
More than 100 varieties of plants — including perennials, annuals, herbs, hanging flower baskets, heirloom vegetables, house plants and curly willow trees — will be sold at the event, said council co-President Carla Rusnica.
Vendors will sell gardening items, jewelry, crafts, decorations and food. There also will be a flea market where community members can sell gently used items, Rusnica said.
Vendors will be located inside the garden center. Flea market and plant sales will take place outside in the garden, she said.
“We’re trying to gather some people in and offer them a fun few days,” Rusnica said.
Gebert’s living wreaths demonstration will take place at 12:30 p.m. May 8 on the garden center lawn, followed by presentations on glass painting at 1:30 p.m. and on growing dahlias at 2:30 p.m.
A member of the Westmoreland Garden Council since the 90s, Gebert has participated in May Mart for decades. She recalls the peak of the plant sale in the early 2000s, when vendors sprawled across the center’s front lawn.
Though the sale has seen a drop in attendance since then, Gebert believes there is a growing interest in gardening.
“People look forward to growing their own flowers, having their yards look very pretty, growing vegetable gardens,” she said. “I think younger people are getting more aware of gardening and wanting to grow organic vegetables.”
The plant sale will take place noon to 7 p.m. May 8 and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 9 at the garden center, 951 Old Salem Road in Greensburg.
Plant preorders, which can be completed at westmorelandgardencouncil.org/events, are due April 30.
Those looking to become a vendor for the sale can call 724-837-0245 during garden council hours — between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays to register. The vendor fee is $70 for those who aren’t members of the garden council and $35 for members.
Items for the flea market can be dropped off during garden council hours.
All proceeds from the sale will support the garden council and its operations.