The annual Master Gardener Plant Sale needs your help! A fundraiser for the Forsyth County Master Gardener program, the 2007 sale will be held at the Ag Building Fri., Sept. 21, from noon to 6 p.m. and Sat., Sept. 22, from 8 a.m. to noon.

Here’s a quick recap of the volunteer schedule:

Thursday, Sept. 20—Two shifts, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 1–4 p.m. Receive and sort incoming plant donations.

Friday morning, Sept. 21—8 a.m.–noon. Final set-up and pricing. 

Friday afternoon—Two shifts, noon–3 p.m. and 3-6 p.m. Help customers select plants, check out and load their purchases.

Saturday, Sept. 22—8 a.m.–noon. Same as above. 

We need a half-dozen people on each shift (more on Friday morning). In addition, we need volunteers with trucks, vans, trailers or SUVs to help pick up donations from area garden centers and nurseries on Thursday.

If you can help with any of these needs, please call Linda Dunn, 703-2850, to sign up. Thank you!

--Sheilah Lombardo, Plant Sale Chairperson

SIDEBAR:

Planning to donate plants for the sale? Please bring them to the Ag Bldg on Thursday, Sept. 20, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. We’ll have volunteers standing by to help unload.

LOTS TO CHOOSE FROM AT 2007 MG CONFERENCE

 The 2007 Master Gardener Conference, a tantalizing three days of advanced training, networking and fun, is coming up Oct. 8-10 in Raleigh at NCSU’s McKimmon Center. Brochures with program and registration details were mailed several weeks ago.

The long list of activities begins Monday with your choice of four optional pre-conference tours of area gardens or points of interest on campus, followed by an evening reception and pig pickin’ at the J. C. Raulston Arboretum.

Tuesday will be a full day of educational sessions led by speakers including Bryce Lane, Pam Beck and Todd Lasseigne. The always entertaining, often provocative Tony Avent, owner of Plant Delights Nursery, will follow the evening’s banquet with a talk titled “Plant Exploration to Plant Exploitation.”

Wednesday will offer morning and afternoon concurrent sessions on wide-ranging topics such as rain gardens, weed management, organic gardening and vermicomposting, to name just a few. The conference officially closes at 4 p.m., but don’t go home without first attending a rare open house at Plant Delights Nursery and Juniper Level Botanical Gardens.

Register by September 1 to qualify for the $115 early registration fee (a savings of $25). Optional garden tours are $40 each, and campus tours are $10.

For all the details, consult your conference brochure or visit the conference website, http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/masgar/conferenct.html