By Elaine Scott
For the past 17 years, the Mill Bay Plantaholics have held a plant sale in Mill Bay to support a variety of charities and they’ve got a long list of plants ready for 2023.
Barb Kohlman, Sharon Martin, Noreen Carver, Louise Neveu and Elaine Scott, have been very busy potting up plants and in addition, Don Loewen and Wes Heinrichs have been busy in their workshops and have donated hand-made garden novelties to the sale. All of the profit raised from this sale will be donated to the Cowichan Women Against Violence Society in Duncan.
Behind the scenes many others have helped on such tasks as preparing the plant list, making up the orders, organizing the whole process and handling the proceeds, and the Plantaholics say they could not run the sale without their help.
This annual plant sale has become well known to local gardeners as a source of healthy, interesting plants at a reasonable price. More than 1,200 plants have been potted up ready for sale. A wide array of plants will be available including drought tolerant plants and plants that are great for a pollinating garden. Don’t forget to include in your garden later flowering plants that are useful to provide food for the bees later in the season. It is important for us to try to conserve as much water as possible but also to feed our pollinating creatures as our local crops are so dependent on them.
Somenos House is a program of the Cowichan Women Against Violence Society and provides short term shelter and support when women (with or without children) need safety from violence and abuse. The Society also provides a wide array of additional services. Information on Somenos House and the Society in general can be found at www.cwav.org.
Since COVID forced the plant sale to go online the customer list has grown to the point where organizers can no longer provide an on-site sale. A list of all items for sale will be emailed to a customer list at approximately 9 a.m. on April 15. Orders will be made by email and will be handled in the order they are received. You then will receive an email confirming your order and indicating the total cost of the order. Pick up will be on Saturday, April 29 at 2836 Oceanside Lane, Mill Bay. Confirmation of your order will include pick-up time and directions.
If you bought plants last year you should already be on the list and have received a notification about the upcoming sale. To be put on the list email TheScottRogers@aol.com.
Elaine Scott is a member of the Mill Bay Plantaholics.