by Sandra Shave, Fulton County Master Gardener Extension Volunteer
For the 23rd year, the North Fulton Master Gardeners will host their time-honored Garden Faire at The Grove at Wills Park.
Garden Faire 2024 will be held Saturday, April 20th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm and is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever! New this year, the popular annual gardening event will feature plant sales from Alpharetta’s Community Agriculture Program and the North Metro Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society.
Garden Faire 2024 will provide one-stop shopping for gardeners – a large selection of annuals and perennials, native plants and edible seedlings. The North Fulton Master Gardeners will have for sale the ornamental annuals they grow at the Fulton County Schools Teaching Museum Greenhouse, featuring coleus, hanging ferns, geraniums, begonias, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and a large variety of other annuals, along with flowering perennials from the Master Gardeners’ own precious pass-along plants. These plants typically include ground covers, flowering perennials, hostas, iris, daylilies and many other perennial plants, along with some select shrubs and trees. Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer your gardening questions.
We are very excited about the North Metro Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society joining us for Garden Faire. They will feature a selection of native perennials, shrubs, vines, and trees. Approximately 2000 plants will be available for pollinator gardens and residential landscapes!
The Alpharetta Community Agriculture Program will have unique varieties of organic, heirloom, and non-GMO plants, grown from seed at Old Rucker Farm. Approximately 5000 vegetable, herb and flower seedlings will be available for home gardens.
The North Fulton Master Gardener volunteers collect vintage treasures and pass them on to visitors at our ever-popular Fleatique market. Peruse the Fleatique sale to find that interesting pot, gadget or garden tool for your home or garden.
If you bring little sprouts to the Faire, look for the Children’s Corner sign. Children can have fun potting a tomato plant, making a seed necklace, coloring pictures of flowers or even learning about worm composting from one of our partners. This free activity is available from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
This year’s Garden Faire will have educational speakers and demonstrations from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, including some well-known gardening experts.
- 10:00 am – Henning von Schmeling, Chattahoochee Nature Center
- 11:00 am – Rick Smith, the Pruning Guru
- 12:00 am – Sam Landes, Mushroom Club of Georgia
- 1:15 pm – North Fulton Master Gardeners Interactive Small Group Presentations featuring George Scesney, who will talk about vegetable gardening, composting and managing wildlife pests, Kelly Mogelgaard, who will present “Four Season Front Door Pops” and “Two Curb Appeal Basics,” Judy Peacock, who will talk about “How to Create a Garden in Containers of all Sizes and Shapes” and Doug Hartong, International Orchid Judge and member American Orchid Society who, will present ”Let me Solve Your Orchid Issues!”
Our Vendors will offer a unique variety of gardening-related items and plants. We still have a few vendor slots available, so vendors may complete our virtual Vendor Committment Form to apply to participate.
How do you get to this fantastic Faire? The Grove at Wills Park is located at 175 Roswell Street, Alpharetta, GA. We recommend that you either park at the parking lot at the Alpharetta Community Center at The Grove or park at the overflow parking lot at Amana Academy (285 S Main St, Alpharetta, GA 30009) and hop on the free shuttle, which will run continuously from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm to take attendees to Garden Faire. Bring your wagons to assist in carrying away all the great plants you will find.
Once the tents are down and the vendors have gone, where does your well-spent dollar go? Proceeds from the North Fulton Master Gardeners Garden Faire go to support our demonstration gardens and many educational activities for both children and adults.
But the best part of Garden Faire is the interaction with our community members. It gives us great joy to share our gardening knowledge with you, answer all your gardening questions, make suggestions on how to best prepare your soil for planting and what growing conditions your new plants need. Right plant! Right Place! This is your opportunity to pick our brains, and we look forward to it!
For more details on Garden Faire, check out the webpage at 2024 Garden Faire and the Facebook event at 2024 Garden Faire Event.
See you on Saturday, April 20th at Garden Faire at The Grove in Wills Park, Alpharetta! Happy gardening!
North Fulton Master Gardeners, Inc. is a Georgia nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose purpose is to educate its members and the public in the areas of horticulture and ecology in order to promote and foster community enrichment. Master Gardener Volunteers are trained and certified by The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. Learn more at nfmg.net.
About the Author
This week’s “Garden Buzz” guest columnist is Sandra Shave, a master gardener since 2018. Sandra grew up on a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin and learned to garden at her mother’s knee. She is a recent transplant to Roswell, Georgia, moving from Wisconsin in 2014 after retirement to be nearer to her children and most importantly her grandchildren! Sandra was Co-President of the North Fulton Master Gardeners in 2022 and is excited to master the art of gardening in Georgia and to help teach others via the NFMG Gardening Lecture Series and the Speakers Bureau.
