Lake Grove Garden Club President Marleen Longabaugh before the plant sale opened. (Submitted by Peggy Keonjian)

On a sunny Saturday late last April over 1,100 plants, most from the gardens of Lake Grove Garden Club members, were waiting as the doors opened to a surging crowd entering the club’s 97th annual plant sale. There were small trees, shrubs, shade, sun and native plants and starts of edibles … all green, healthy and ready for new homes. By noon most had quickly left in boxes and wagons of eager gardeners. (Hughes Water Garden and Bosky Dell Nursery also generously provided plants at cost to be part of the sale, so this was a community project all around.) Happy people, happy plants, but the best was yet to come.

At the end of the sale morning, even the “leftovers” found homes. A number of plants not purchased at the sale were placed on the porch of the Lake Oswego Adult Community Center, as they had previously agreed, even though the center was closed that weekend. A “Free-we need homes” sign was posted nearby. By noon on Monday, all had disappeared from the porch, to whom no one has said but it is hoped to nearby gardens and yards. Or plant pirates?

After the sale, many unsold small pots of tomato and strawberry plant starts were donated to Growing-Gardens, a program that provides gardening experience for incarcerated people to gain knowledge about growing their own food (Growing-Gardens.org). Some later go on to work in nursery or agricultural businesses using the skills they learned.

Profits from the plant sale are also used to beautify community projects like the Heritage House Heirloom Rose Garden (some of the roses have been planted in memory of past club members), the Oswego Pioneer Cemetery, the Pollinator Garden at Luscher Farm (which was developed by the club), the new Blue and Gold Star Markers celebrating veterans recently installed in Foothills Park, books to the LO library in memory of past members and a Horticultural Scholarship at Clackamas Community College. The West Linn Garden Club provides signage and plants for the Heritage McLean House and the Mary S. Young Pollinator gardens from their plant sale profits as well as providing and maintaining Gold and Blue Star Markers. As you can see, the plants purchased at a garden club plant sale have a mission in addition to beautifying our own gardens: they provided funds to beautify our communities as well.

With this in mind, we at the Lake Grove Garden Club were delighted to be awarded a Century Award by the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce recently for the club’s many contributions such as these, and also to celebrate in 2024 our 100th anniversary as the oldest federated garden club in Oregon. Visit our web site at Lakegrovegardenclub. org to find out more, tell us how your plants from the sale are doing or join us as members. And thank you for making both the plants and the community projects possible with your purchases. Hope to see you at the sale next year!

Peggy Keonjian is a member of the Jottings Group of the Lake Oswego Adult Community Center.