VCMGA Fall Sale and Boutique: A community event
Linda Lees | Victoria County Master Gardener
Gardeners’ Dirt Article-Oct 5, 2024
Chili pequin peppers are available at the plant sale. (Photo by Linda Lees)
Turks Cap, a Texas Native will be available at the Plant Sale.
Photo by Linda Lees
Master Gardener making sure plants will be healthy and in good shape for the plant sale.
Photo by Linda Lees
Attending the Victoria County Master Gardener Association plant sales for over 15 years has been like experiencing a passing parade of many people from Victoria and this vicinity. They come and go and then come back again because the VCMGA plant sales are more than fundraisers, they are community events.
Not Knowing Can Be Fun
People expect to see the fall and spring plant sales even though they may not attend them each year. They know the fun of it is not knowing what they will find, particularly at this year’s holiday garden boutique.
The boutique will have potted plants, birdhouses, garden equipment, repurposed garden products as well as holiday decorative items. This part of the plant sale started at the spring 2024 sale.
The 2024 Fall Plant Sale set for Saturday, Oct. 12 is still in the making as I write this article. I have a list of plants that we know will be on hand, but we won’t know what all we’ve got until just a few days before the event. There will be hundreds of plants which have been purchased from wholesalers as well as plants grown by Victoria Master Gardeners.
As usual the public will converge at VEG Pavilion, 283 Bachelor Dr., from 8 a.m. until noon. I urge you to arrive early to see the most selections. Although it is set to end at noon sales may be halted when the stock is depleted.
For those unfamiliar with the location the pavilion is located across from the control tower at Victoria Regional Airport.
Numerous Master Gardeners will be on hand to help with selections, educational information, checking out and loading up.
There Will Be Numerous Vegetable Selections
The 2024 Fall Plant Sale will be remembered for having the largest number of vegetable plants ever. After all, many longtime gardeners claim fall is the best time for growing a successful vegetable garden.
A partial listing of veggies available will be: Table Queen Acorn Winter Squash, Tiny Hedou Bok Choy, Purple Sprout Broccoli, Purple Magic Broccoli, Green Stonehead Cabbage, Red Dynasty Cabbage, Mini Hansel Eggplant, garlic chives, Purple Vienna Kohlrabi, Parks Whooper Jalapeno, Longevity Spinach, Multiplying/Bunching Green Onions, pole beans, “H” Purple Plum Radish, Spaghetti Kabocha, Sweet Jade Winter Squash, Yellow Zucchini and Gold Rush Zucchini. And, oh, we must not forget the Garlic Chives.
So far for herbs we have Thai Basil and variegated Cuban Oregano.
Don’t worry the Chiltepin Pepper will be well represented, but I have a problem classifying it. It could be included with the vegetables, but it is a Texas native shrub that can grow 3 to 6 feet tall and live 35 to 50 years. It also can just as easily be a decorative pot plant.
Adding to the confusion we will also have the smaller Pequin Pepper often identified as a Chiltepin. It is actually a different plant. Come see for yourself at the plant sale!
Lovers of Texas native plants will find the following: Beebrush, Blue Bonnets, Prickly Pear Cactus, Cedar Elm, Cowpen Daisy, Datura Wrightii, Dwarf Yaupon Holly, Flame Acanthus, Four Nerve Daisy, Gulf Coast Muhly Grass, Irene Lantana, Lila de low Llanos, Muhly Blue Sage, Mexican Mint Marigold, Mexican Primrose Willow, Zizoties Milkweed, Nana Coreopsis, Anacacho (white) Orchid Tree, Cape Plumbago, pride of
Barbados, Red Yucca, Redbud Tree, Pink Rock Rose, Tropical Red Sage, Lyre Leaf Sage, Scarlet Salvia, Turk’s Cap, and Autumn Sage.
Going back to the plumbago, it is not a real Texas native, but it is so adaptive to our state that after extensive testing it was proclaimed a Texas Super Star plant.
Rounding out the list of sale showstoppers are: African False Hosta. Creamy White Bougainvillea, Brazilian Bachelor’s Button, St. Joseph’s Amaryllis, Snake Plant, Orange Bells Esperanza, Creeping Inch Plant, Aggie Hibiscus, Peruvian Lily, roses, cactus and much, much more.
The Gardeners’ Dirt is written by members of the Victoria County Master Gardener Association, an educational outreach of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension – Victoria County.
More Information
Victoria County Master Gardeners’ Annual Fall Plant Sale
Saturday, October 12th from 8 a.m. to noon
Pavilion at the Victoria Educational Gardens
283 Bachelor’s Drive, Victoria, TX 77904
For more information and photos of boutique items and plants see Plant Sale Page.