BATON ROUGE, La. – East Baton Rouge Parish Master Gardeners will have a plant sale at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 12.

Plant Makers, a group of Master Gardeners, has raised these plants while working all year to provide the public with over 5,000 plants and 250 plant varieties, said Donna Montgomery, publicity chairperson for the plant sale.

“You will find a good selection of Super Plants, such as Bandana lantanas, drift roses and butterfly pentas, to name a few,” Montgomery said. “These reliable and beautiful plants are selected for their superior performances under Louisiana growing conditions. Also available will be many hard-to-find perennials and other plants to make your garden pop.”

The plant sale is the perfect place to pick up a Mother's Day gift, choose a hanging basket for the plant lover or an herb pot for the cook in the family, she said.

“To make your shopping experience easier, shop our website before the sale,” she said. “Photos of available plants are at www.mgplantsale.com. Bring along a wagon to make shopping easier.”

Master Gardeners will be available to help with selections and to give advice on planting. If you have a sickly plant at home, you can bring a specimen to the plant health clinic where experts can help diagnose the problem.

The spring plant sale is the only fundraising activity of the East Baton Rouge Master Gardeners. Money derived from the sale is shared with Burden Center and goes to educational activities for the community, such as plant health clinics, school gardens, educational classes at local libraries and children’s programs as well as supporting projects at Burden, Montgomery said.

Master Gardeners are a volunteer branch of the LSU AgCenter. Through the Master Gardener classes they receive training and resources from LSU AgCenter faculty and, in return, volunteer their time to educate the public on many areas of gardening.

Anyone interested in gardening can become a Master Gardener. Interested individuals can call their local LSU AgCenter office for the dates and times of the next classes.

The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden is located on Essen Lane at I-10 in Baton Rouge.

For additional information about the plant sale visit the event website.

Johnny Morgan