by Donna Heldman and Christine Williams, Fulton County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers
This article is part of Garden Buzz, a series from Appen Media and the North Fulton Master Gardeners, where rotating columnists explore horticulture topics like herbs, insects, and wildlife conservation. Find all Garden Buzz articles here.
Spring is almost here and if you are a gardening enthusiast you will not want to miss the 24th Annual Garden Faire, presented by the North Fulton Master Gardeners.
This FREE event will be at The Grove at Wills Park Saturday, April 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. We are thrilled to once again be partnering with Alpharetta Community Agriculture Program, the Georgia Native Plant Society-North Metro Atlanta chapter and the City of Alpharetta. We anticipate this year’s Garden Faire to be the best one yet.
Garden Faire 2025 will provide one-stop shopping for gardeners with a HUGE selection of annuals and perennials, native plants and culinary plants, as well as education and children’s activities. Plant selections for sale include ornamental annuals grown by Master Gardeners at the Fulton County Schools Teaching Museum greenhouse. You can find many colors of coleus, hanging ferns, geraniums, begonias, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and a large variety of other annuals. Our big sellers are our passalong plants from the Master Gardeners’ own personal gardens. Passalong plants typically include a variety of ground covers, perennials, hostas, irises and daylilies, along with some select shrubs and trees. Make sure you look for the Master Gardeners wearing UGA Extension aprons or name tags. They will be on hand to answer your gardening questions and provide advice on which plants will meet your needs.
New This Year
- A special booth featuring information on native plants and pollinator plants
- MORE garden-related vendors offering rare plants, tropical indoor plants, succulents, pottery, gardening gifts, birdhouses and more
- Seed giveaways
- Live bluegrass from the Cedar Hill Band
- Fantastic talks on topical gardening issues
- Unique container gardens
- Food vendors to help satisfy your hunger or thirst
- More plants than you can imagine
The North Fulton Master Gardener volunteers also collect vintage treasures for the ever-popular Fleatique market, where you can spot that interesting pot, gadget or garden tool or other unique item for your home or garden at bargain prices.
If you bring young ones to the Faire, look for the Children’s Corner at the back by the new dinosaur playground. Children will be doing a gardening craft activity and learning about worm composting from one of our partners. These free activities are available from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Educational Talks and Demonstrations
This year’s Garden Faire will have educational garden talks and demonstrations from 10:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., including some well-known gardening experts. These talks include:
10:00 a.m.– 10:45 a.m. “Composting 101”
Speaker: Chloe Weathington, Urban Agriculture Project Manager with Food Well Alliance
11:00 a.m.– 11:45 a.m. “De-Mystifying Hydrangeas”
Speaker: Jennifer Petritz, horticulturist and current president of the American Hydrangea Society
1:00 p.m.–1:45 p.m. “What We Plant Matters
Speaker: Connie Gray, President of Athens-East Piedmont Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society
2:00 p.m.- 2:45 p.m. “How to Create a Garden in Containers of all Shapes and Sizes”
Speaker: Judy Peacock, North Fulton Extension Volunteer and Master Gardener Extension Volunteer
How do you get to the 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 follow the signs from the community center to the overflow parking lot at Amana Academy (285 S Main St, Alpharetta, GA 30009). There, you can hop on the free shuttle to take attendees to and from Garden Faire, running continuously from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (with a short lunch break from 12:00-12:30 p.m.).
Bring your wagons to assist in shopping for and carrying away all the great plants and garden goodies you will find. There will be some carts and wagons available in case you forget. If you park in the overflow lot, we will hold your purchases in a secure spot in the Alpharetta Community Center parking lot while you go get your car.
This event is a major fundraiser for all the participating partners. Proceeds from Garden Faire support educational activities for both children and adults, as well as community outreach.
Garden Faire supports North Fulton Master Gardeners’ mission of educating the community by sharing our gardening knowledge with you and answering your gardening questions. This is your opportunity to pick our brains, and we look forward to it!
For more details on Garden Faire, check out the Garden Faire Website and the Garden Faire Facebook page. See you on Saturday, April 12th at Garden Faire at The Grove in Wills Park, Alpharetta!
Happy gardening!
About the Authors
A master gardener since 2007, Donna grew up in New Jersey, “the Garden State”, but spent most of her life in Ohio before recently moving to Roswell to be closer to family. Donna worked in health care before following her passion for plants. She has experience working with plants in garden centers, in addition to having her own landscaping business.
A lifelong nature lover, Christine relishes getting dirty. From a young age she loved exploring in any nearby woods, meadows or open fields she could find near Chamblee where she was born and grew up. Christine has been a Master Gardener Extension Volunteer with Fulton County since 2011 and received her Certificate of Native Plants from the UGA State Botanical Garden of Georgia in February 2024.
