Dozens Turnout for Annual Dexter Garden Club Sale

Dozens of area residents converged on on Saturday morning for the annual Dexter Area Garden Club plant sale.

“We opened at 10 a.m., and customers were already here waiting at 9 a.m.,” club president Kathleen Stevenson said.

The sale, which serves as the club’s chief fundraiser, draws gardeners from throughout Washtenaw and Jackson counties to Dexter.

“One of the great things about this sale is that the prices are incredibly reasonable,” Stevenson said.

This year, event organizers promised a wider selection of plants, flowers and vegetables available to the general public.

“Each year, the sale grows,” said Allen Gorgas, event co-chairman. “Our hope is that we can appeal to a wider range of customers. We’re very excited for this year’s sale, and we got started seeking contributions a lot earlier, which helped us out tremendously.”

Nearly 60 different perennial plants from Dexter Garden Club members' own gardens as well as hostas, day lilies, ornamental grasses and indigenous Michigan plants were up for sale.

Local resident Anne Sanderson said she has attended several of the garden club's sales.

“There’s a ton of people on hand to tell you what’s what and offer advice,” she said. “I love being able to shop around.”

Sanderson said in particular she was happy to see a variety of shade plants and native trees.

Barbara Davenport of Dexter was happy to find white lilacs for sale.

“The selection is impressive,” she said. “I was so happy I found my lilacs.”

Stevenson said the sale’s success is credited to Gorgas and event co-chairwoman Mary Higgins.

“The quality of plants is incredible; there are some items at the sale that we never had before,” she said.

Stevenson said hostas and native plants are the most popular items at the sale, and often sell out quickly.

Eric Ford of Pinckney said he’s been attending the sale for decades, adding that gardening “keeps him sane” and visiting Dexter is always a pleasure.

Stevenson said proceeds from the sale are reinvested back into the community on projects such as the vegetable garden at the and a plant and flower garden at Generations Together.

For more information on the Dexter Garden Club, visit their website, www.hvcn.org/info/dgc/.