Master Gardener plant sale returns to Carrollton library
Published 4:54 pm Monday, May 5, 2025
Master Gardeners Cheryl Gray McDonald, at left, and Kimberly Lease-Hughes hold for-sale plants outside the Carrollton library.
The Carrollton branch of the Blackwater Regional Library hosts an annual plant sale by the Western Tidewater Master Gardeners.
From left, in back, are Carrollton Elementary School counselor Marie Berkley, engineering teacher Susan Waibel and teacher’s aide Carey Byrd. In front, from left, are students Madeline Byrd, Luca Gisparini and Harrison Byrd from the Carrollton Elementary Ecology Club.
Shoppers browse plants for sale on the grounds of the Carrollton library.
Fe Hancock came from Franklin with her dog, Creole, to shop at the Master Gardener plant sale.
Coleuses are available for sale.
This year’s plant sale included over 100 for-sale gardening books donated by former librarian and lifelong gardener Connie Henderson.
Master Gardener Mark Carroll works the book sale pavilion.
Signage identifies these for-sale plants as Easter rose, or “Kerria japonica,” a shrub native to Asia.
A plaque states the learning garden is maintained by the Western Tidewater Master Gardeners and was originally created with donations from several local landscaping businesses.
Information from the Virginia Cooperative Extension identifies for-sale plants as sedum “autumn joy.”
There’s more than just books to be found at the Blackwater Regional Library’s Carrollton branch.
For the past several years, the site has hosted the Western Tidewater Master Gardeners’ annual plant sale. The 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. event returned on May 3 to the library grounds.
All of the for-sale plants are locally grown and most are native to Virginia. Most have been grown by master gardeners either in their home gardens or from propositions of plants in the library’s outdoor “learning garden” the Master Gardeners maintain as an educational component of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Isle of Wight County office.
“It gives you the advantage of having plants that are comfortable with the area or climatized,” said event organizer and Master Gardener Mark Carroll.
“We have herbs, annuals, we have trees, shrubs, perennials, edibles such as blackberries,” said Master Gardener Karen Czerniak.
A native plant typically refers to one indigenous to Virginia or the Eastern Seaboard from before the arrival of English settlers, such as perennial butterfly weed, or “Asclepius tuberosa,” which grows one to three feet in height and produces yellow to bright orange flowers in May through August, according to a Southeast Virginia native plant guide published by askhrgreen.org.
“We have a lot of paw paw trees,” said Master Gardener Cheryl Gray McDonald.
Paw paws, though a native fruit-bearing tree, are “not something you see every day,” McDonald said. According to the askhrgreen.com guide, they can grow 10 to 40 feet in height and produce an edible dark green or yellow-green fruit.
All of the for-sale plants get organized with signage telling shoppers whether they’re native, shade-loving versus full-sun or indoor houseplants.
“One of the great things about buying from us is you can pick our brains,” Czerniak said. “We can help you decide whether a plant you’re considering is going to be happy in the location you’re considering.”
This year, in addition to for-sale plants, the event included over 100 gardening books for sale donated by Connie Henderson, a lifelong gardener and former head librarian at the Carrollton branch. Several of the for-sale plants were grown by students in the Ecology Club at Carrollton Elementary, which is located adjacent to the library.
The Master Gardeners use the proceeds from each sale to support training and outreach through the Virginia Cooperative Extension, Carroll said.
The VCE was established as a partnership between Virginia Tech and Virginia State University. The VCE oversees the state’s 4-H youth agriculture programs, the Western Tidewater Master Gardeners and the Historic Southside Master Naturalists. McDonald said she became involved with the Master Gardener program several years ago when she moved to the area.
“We learn from each other,” she said.
The group also maintains the learning garden at the Carrollton library.
According to the extension’s website, there are more than 5,000 Master Gardener volunteers who work in communities throughout Virginia to promote research-based horticulture. Becoming one entails a minimum 50 hours of training and 50 hours of volunteer service, with exact requirements varying by county. The deadline to register for the next class is June 1.
Registration is open at http://bttr.im/k9dgf.
The learning garden at the library is open from dawn to dusk.
