The annual Granville Gardeners Expo takes place Saturday, Apr. 18, and Vendor Coordinator Christi Henthorn said this year’s event features educational workshops, vendors, local handcrafted items as well as the plants, vegetables, herbs and more for gardeners to scoop up and add to their own landscapes.
Come out to the Granville County Convention & Expo Center between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to check out all the locally sourced plants, from herbs and vegetable slips to hardy landscape specimens.
Experienced gardeners may know exactly what they’re looking at and looking for at the expo, but there are many opportunities for less-experienced gardeners to learn more about how to cultivate the coveted “green thumb.”
More than 85 vendors will fill the indoor and outdoor spaces of the expo center that day, but there’s room for just a few more. “We’re spread out all over the grounds,” Henthorn said on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny!
In years past, the education workshops were held inside the convention center, but this year, they’ll be integrated among the vendors and plants, sharing their knowledge about diverse topics ranging from gardening as therapy for anxiety and depression and incorporating native plants into the landscape to bird feeders, bees and pollinators and making herbal teas and breads.
Henthorn said she’d recommend bringing a wagon to make your shopping experience more enjoyable. You can fill that wagon with plants, unique arts and crafts items and more, she said. Most vendors are equipped to take electronic payments, she added, although cash is always welcome.
Members of the Master Gardeners will be on hand to talk about “victory” gardens and there will be Earth Day activities taking place during the day as well. A raffle full of great prizes has been organized to support the Gardeners’ annual scholarship.
Add a fleet of food trucks, stocked with yummy food and treats, and you’ve got a full day of fun for the whole family.
Indeed, Henthorn said the Gardeners’ Expo is a family-friendly event. Last year’s expo had more than 2,200 in attendance and this year’s event is shaping up to top that number.
“Our plants are generally all organic,” Henthorn said. They’re either grown locally at a couple of different nearby nurseries, or they come straight out of the gardens of Granville Gardener members.
Parking in front of the Expo building is reserved for those with mobility issues or handicapped placards. General parking is located next door. Volunteers will be on hand to direct drivers to a parking spot.
If you placed an online order, pickup will take place in a drive-thru line that takes you to the back side of the covered arena behind the Expo Center.
Learn more about the Granville Gardeners Club at https://thegranvillegardeners.org/
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