The third annual Spring Plant Sale was a wonderful success! Hosted by the Quail Valley Garden Club on May 8th, and held in the beautiful Tee Garden in Quail Valley, it offered garden-minded shoppers over 2,000 beautiful plants in all categories; annuals, perennials, succulents, herbs, vegetables, native Plants, trees, bushes and shrubs.
Free to the public, this five-hour event offered four 30-minute presentations discussing Home Composting Made Simple (presented by Kathy Williamson Saucier), The Magic & Beauty of Fairy Gardens (presented by Kathy Gilmore), Transforming Old Pots into Designer Planters (presented by Sandy Cackowski) and Gardening for Kids (presented by James Boone Holladay – FBC Extension Office). Additionally, the City of Missouri City’ “Mayors’ Youth Commission” held an activity attraction for kids encouraging them to paint a pot and plant a plant of their own to take home and nurture. Diane Russell and Angela LeDoux, members of the Coastal Prairie Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists, spoke to the Monarch Butterflies, showing butterflies and caterpillars in various stages of development, giving everyone an opportunity to see these pollinators up-close and learn about the native plants they need to survive which everyone can grow in our urban gardens.
The Plant Sale concluded with two exciting announcements; a raffle drawing and winner-announcement by Lynn Clouser, Missouri City Councilwoman At-Large, Position 2, who was assisted by Missouri City Mayor Robin Elackatt, Missouri City Council Member for District D, Floyd Emery and Rose Ann Acosta, the garden club member who initiated the raffle program for the Quail Valley Garden Club and a co-chair this year, along with fellow member Debbie Hanks (who was not in attendance). Four raffle prizes were given out in all; first Prize was a decorative Birdbath Fountain won by Sue Neuendorf, second Prize a stunning Dahlia Wind Spinner won by Peggy McDermott, the third Prize a whimsical Cat and Mouse Bouncer won by Ed Patton and the fourth Prize, a quaint Curiosity Cat & Butterfly garden statue won by Dave Ramsey.
The “pas de resistance” at the conclusion of the Spring Plant Sale event was the touching acknowledgement and words of thanks spoken by current Quail Valley Garden Club president Deborah Douglas to the founding president, Ms. Patsy Armbruster. Deborah voiced the deep appreciation that is felt today, some 50 years later, for Ms. Armbruster who initiated the Garden Club in 1972, starting a community garden club that has evolved into a thriving, successful, civic-minded, community-supported garden club – a club that today continues to educate and promote beautification in our great community.
