Plant Sale Grows a Crowd in RMA Parking Lot
May 24, 2024 09:43AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter
Jack, 5, and Brady, 2, show Dani Martel the Mother’s Day presents they just created for her. They were at the plant sale presented by the River Valley Garden Club Plant in the RMA Building parking lot on May 11. Photo by Gail Bullen
River Valley Garden Club “Plant Sale Extravaganza" [5 Images]
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RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Billed as a “Plant Sale Extravaganza,” the event lived up to its name when the River Valley Garden Club opened for business in the RMA Building parking lot on May 11.
Garden Club President Deb Rooney was overwhelmed with the response.
“It was more than we could have imagined,” she said. “I’m so appreciative of the community and with everyone in the club pitching in.”
Among the attendees was Debrah Sharrington, who praised the sale.
“Events like these are part of the reason we moved here,” Sharrington said.
Two components of the sale were directly tied to Mother’s Day, which fell the following day. Flower arrangements filled two folding tables, thanks to the efforts of three club members the night before. Within an hour after the sale began, half of the arrangements were gone.
A children’s activity table provided materials so that 25 earnest youngsters could create a Mother’s Day gift.
“It was so cute to watch them decorate their pots, pick out their plants, write their mom’s name on the card, and put on the stickers,” Rooney said.
Although few, the raffle prizes were so top-notch that ticket sales were brisk. The pièce de résistance was a donated garden bench planted with succulents by Peggy and Steve DeMello.
Another prize, a garden cart donated by Ace Hardware, was filled with gardening supplies donated by the club. Also in the drawing were a Japanese Maple, a Cara Cara orange tree and a combination of a framed print and a wine holder complete with a bottle of wine.
Speaking of wine, the garden club also held a first-time silent auction of a half dozen bottles donated by two wineries.
Among the visitors seeking advice from one of two master gardeners on site was Lynn Erpelding, who appreciated the guidance about her ailing hydrangea.
“This sale is amazing,” she said. “I’m only sad that I didn’t get here at 9 a.m.”
The plant sale featured five tables of plants propagated by garden club members. Rooney said they began growing herbs, tomatoes and other vegetables in February. More mature plants complemented the garden art displayed in another section of the sale.
Donations from commercial enterprises included a variety from Green Acres Nursery and a table full of succulents from Sturtz Ranch in Sloughhouse.
“But everything else was either propagated by the club, friends of the club or donated by the community,” Rooney said.
Attendee Casey Ursery said the timing couldn’t have been better.
“We just moved in last week and a lot of our plants died,” Ursery said. “This will help us rebuild.”
A week before the sale, club members converged on the home of Vice-President Nancy Compton for a planting party, Rooney said.
“We perked up some plants, repotted some plants, filled empty pots with plants and just had a really fun time doing it,” Rooney said.
There were so many plants that they overflowed Compton’s backyard and house, making cooking impossible.
“That’s the wonderful thing about the garden club. Everyone pitches in and does what they can and it turns out wonderfully,” Rooney said.
