Garden clubs really dig the gardening.

Byline: Susan Nest

Local garden club members hope garden aficionados will reap what the members have sown by making purchases at plant sales on Saturday in Shrewsbury, Northboro and Westboro.

Shrewsbury

"There's something for everyone looking for perennials, some advice or a fun activity for your children while you're buying your annuals for your garden," said Shrewsbury Garden Club President Laurie Hogan.

The Shrewsbury Garden Club is celebrating its 51st anniversary this year and Hogan estimates the annual plant sale has been around just as long.

"We've always had a plant sale and we've expanded it this year," said Hogan, who is co-chairing the event with Debbie Stefani. "We've tried to make it more of an event."

In addition to approximately 100 perennials dug from members' gardens, there will be annuals, herbs, vegetables, including tomato plants, and hanging baskets grown at Marston Nursery on Spring Street at the sale.

Prices will start at $2 and go up from there.

"Everything has been grown in Shrewsbury," Hogan said. "The money we raise will go to the Town Beautification Fund. We're hoping to raise $2,000 this year."

For the first time, the sale will also feature a white elephant sale of lightly-used garden items, such as a wide variety of pots, gardening books and magazines, and garden ornaments.

"All of our members are baking. We're going to have a big bake sale," Hogan said. "We're going to have an information tent and have a garden club expert - Doris Clark, one of our original, founding members; she's our queen gardener - there to answer questions."

There will also be a free children's potting table where children can plant seeds to bring home and several free fact sheets available with information about what plants go together and what flowers to plant to attract birds, according to Hogan.

"All (the garden club) ladies will be wearing green aprons and straw hats," Hogan said. "We wanted to make a fun event for the townsfolk to come and help support the garden club. It will be held rain or shine."

The Shrewsbury Garden Club annual plant sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, May 17, along the front half of the town common from Main Street back to the gazebo, in Shrewsbury.

Northboro

Northboro's venerable garden club is holding its annual plant sale rain or shine, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the corner of Blake and Main streets, in the center of Northboro, Saturday, May 17.

"There's a nice group of people who work there," said Carolyn Squillante, who has been a Northborough Garden Club member since the 1980s. "Most people who come (to the sale) are nature lovers and like to go around and chat."

She added that the sale is a good place to see neighbors and friends.

"Come and mingle with other people of the same interest," Squillante said.

Northboro's sale will feature mostly perennials donated by club or community members. There will also be a few annuals, but no vegetables for sale. Most of the plants, including hardy sun and shade loving perennials, herbs and ground covers, will sell from 25 cents to $10.

"We try to get them harvested just as soon as they come up through the ground so they're well-established in their pots," Squillante said. "We could get some late ones just popped into their pots that morning."

The sale, which has no chairwoman, is completely committee run.

"We have a set-up committee, a pricing committee, a group to set up and one to take it down," Squillante said. "We have different groups doing different things."

The 45-member Northborough Garden Club was founded in 1925 and its current president is Cessy Bombara.

"We're always looking for new members of the garden club," Squillante said. "There will be a table with brochures for people to look at if interested (in joining).

Dues are $20 a year payable in September.

Proceeds from the plant sale will benefit the annual scholarship fund and town beautification projects.

Westboro

The Westborough Garden Club will hold its annual plant sale, rain or shine, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Saturday, May 17, at the Tufts Machine parking lot, 49 East Main St, Westboro.

"I think the thing that is most important is we're selling perennials all grown in this area," said plant sale Chairwoman Polly Thayer. "Members dug them out of their gardens. (The plants) are used to Westboro's climate and growing conditions, as opposed to those that trucked in; they won't have an acclimation period. We have fantastic prices because we haven't had the truck come in."

The sale will feature perennials, annuals, herbs and vegetables priced from $1 to $10, with an average price of $4 to $5, according to Thayer.

"For anyone who's into gardening this is a really good buy this year," Thayer said. "Prices at the big box stores are high because it costs so much to heat greenhouses and transport plants and we don't have those costs."

Members will also be available to answer gardening questions at the sale.

Proceeds from the sale will benefit scholarship and educational funds, as well as the community beautification program, which involves 20 different sites around town maintained by garden club members.