Memphis Area Master Gardeners Spring Fling and Plant Show

March 17th and 18th, 2017

Mark your calendars for the Memphis Area Master Gardeners Spring Fling Garden Show and Plant Sale! The two-day event takes place Friday and Saturday, March 17th and 18th from 9 am to 5 pm in Memphis at the Big Red Barn at the Farmer’s Market on the grounds of the Agricenter, 7777 Walnut Grove. Admission and parking are free!

Spring Fling offers educational seminars from regional and local experts; hands-on instruction; a gardening photo exhibit; re-cycling information; a seed starter booth; a gardening book and magazine sale; and lots of fun children’s activities in our Kid’s Corner. Our Master Gardener Plant Sale includes more than 2,000 plants and bulbs in a wide range of selections just in time for the gardening season. Have a gardening question? We have the answer! The “Ask a Master Gardener” Plant Clinic gives personalized solutions to your particular gardening problem. In addition, numerous vendors furnish unique plants, artisanal crafts, accessories and garden-related items in a rare “one stop shop” gardening marketplace. Don’t miss “Garden Jumble” – a mini flea-market of gently used garden tools, implements and art.

Topics for presentations this year include backyard chickens, small gardens, butterflies, and healthy organic gardening methods. You will also see demonstrations on creating terrariums, cooking with herbs, and making garden markers with spoons. Noted speakers include Carol Reese, Dale Skaggs, Rita Randolph, Carl Wayne Hardeman and Jason Reeves.

Bring the kids on Saturday, March 18th for a fun-filled day of educational activities in our Kid’s Corner. Children will be entertained with hands-on crafts and garden-related projects while learning about plants and gardening. They will create a garden hat or headband, a scented butterfly, and a sparkly flower or Garden Friends bookmark. Kids will plant wild flower seeds in a special bio- degradable pot that they make. Take it home and watch the flowers grow!  There will be cooking demonstrations and a worm meet-and-greet.  Don’t forget face painting and balloon animals! All of the children’s activities are FREE.

Dr. Chris Cooper, UT Extension Agent for Shelby County, notes that the TN Extension Memphis Area Master Gardeners Spring Fling Garden Show and Plant Sale “is unique. It is the only free garden event in the county devoted entirely to horticulture education and gardening. Many well-known local nurserymen as well as Tennessee Extension employees support Spring Fling with their contributions and time.”

For more information about this premier gardening event, visit the website http://www.memphisareamastergardeners.org/sfling.htm. You can also contact the Shelby County UT Extension Office at (901) 752-1207. For vendor information, please contact Linda Taylor at [log in to unmask].