Nearly 600 gardening enthusiasts and others seeking tips on how to become one attended last weekend’s 12th annual Albemarle Master Gardener Spring Garden Show.
Master Gardeners from Chowan, Perquimans and Gates counties collaborated on the event, attracting 27 vendors to the Perquimans County Recreation Center in Hertford.
Vendors displayed everything from plants and garden art pieces to jewelry and baked goods like the pickled quail eggs from Southern Dreams Farms in Powells Point. The Master Gardeners also held a plant sale, bake sale, raffle and an “Ask A Master Gardener” booth.
Arlene Bowling displayed her selection of cleverly designed clay pots and cocktail jewelry containing images of seashells, the Edenton trolley, and even the Edenton Steamers baseball team’s schedule. She said she had a good day selling her goods.
Over the years, she has experimented by adding assorted fabrics, cloths and scenery to her clay pots and stones.
“This was my first year participating in this garden show but often I set up at the Edenton Farmers’ Market,” she said. “I’ve always had my hands in some kind of decorating and working in the yard. I’ve had a green thumb since I was little.”
Bowling said she’s created 10 flower beds over the last six years at the house where she now lives.
“I brought home a whole big metal container of plants that I bought after this garden show — Portulaca, Zinnia for my garden,” she said.
Artist Tina Fielder displayed her craft cocktail and simmer pot kits that can be used to spread apple pie and spiced-orange aromas across one’s home or workspace.
Nearby, shoppers flipped display tables filled with tote bags, glass magnets filled with flower petals and shells while others scoped two-foot tall bird houses and feeders.
“We’re glad to see so many people here and to see all the items the vendors are displaying,” said Kellie Luton Binnicker, a consumer horticulture agent and Master Gardener program coordinator with the Perquimans Center of N.C. Cooperative Extension. “The Master Gardeners are here to help and they (attendees) can find more information on our websites if they missed the garden show.”
Garden show attendees tried their luck bidding on 24 raffle baskets. The contents included bird houses, snacks, hand moisturizers, a rod and reel, and much more.
“We begin gathering items for the basket raffle around six months before the garden show,” Binnicker said. “Items are donated by members, their family and friends, members of the community and businesses.”
All proceeds from the Spring Garden Show benefit the Katherine G. Shook Master Gardner Scholarship fund. Scholarships from the fund are awarded to high school students in Chowan, Perquimans and Gates counties as well as college students pursuing a degree in either horticulture, agriculture, natural resources, or a related field, Binnicker said.
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