“Sorta Newsletter” September 2026

Golly, Fall is nearly upon us as quite a few of us are taking a breather after the rigors of holding this year’s Native Plant Sale.  Special kudos to our co-chairs, Betsy Washington and Carol Martin for their expertise and enthusiasm in making 2026 another successful and fun Sale.   Good Luck Cellars is a great location.  Thank you, to all 38 of our volunteers:

Behind the scenes, the Grubens provided a site for potting parties and transported Pat’s plants from Farmville.   Kevin Howe maintained the inventory of plants being raised and donated to the Sale, assisted Christine Tombleson to create and then printed the QR labels, and provided publicity.  He also braved traffic to install directional road signs to the Sale.  Betsy and Paula designed the plant species signs and Sarah Monroedesigned the flyers.  Betsy posts the on-going Facebook news.

Pre-sale set-up [road signage, signage for plants, directions and other sorts of signs were created, installed, and removed to storage as needed.  Plants were transported, labeled, inventoried on site, and watered.  Post sale, everything had to be removed…. unsold plants went to Nancy’s home for continued sale, and other equipment was taken to our storage unit] was done by MANY volunteers doing triple duties, mentioned elsewhere, so for brevity not duplicated…in addition: by Ed Seydel, Carla Bangs, Carol Martin, Maryanna Fischer, Terrie Mason, Rick Bortnick, and Ron Ramsey.  A couple of nonmember guests visiting Sarah and Ed also pitched in.  Mary Carlin Porter, Susan Titus, and others already listed, helped growers transport plants to Good Luck Cellars. 

Nancy Garvey coordinated volunteers and their schedules as well as hosting {along with Deb Langford} the Education Booth.  Pat Lust hosted the focus theme tent ‘Ground-covers’ and also provided over 600 plants for the Sale.  During the year, Pat taught members how to propagate native plants, which were donated to the Sale.  Ellen Clarke, Jeff Wainscott and Lynn Broaddus hosted the Membership Booth, Ann Williams and Kyle Langford accepted payment after Debi Sarandrea, Christine Tombleson, Porter Washington, and Charlotte Moss scanned plants.  Linda Gayle handled logistics during setup, directed parking, and handed out our Northern Neck Native Plant Guide, plant site map and “How to Purchase” instructions.  Out in the sale area, consultants headed by Betsy, included Lynn Broaddus, Anne Olson, Darlene Nelson, Tamara Borland, Polly Foote, Linda Ball, Sarah Munroe, Darlene Nelson, and Jenny Crandall.   Barb Jones was stationed at the Plant Holding Area.   Carol Martin hosted the Shoreline Tent along with volunteers from the Master Gardeners.   

The Plant Sale requires a year-long planning process.  Spring meetings involved potting parties, site logistics and communicating with the plant growers.  Summer becomes busier with documenting plant inventory, pricing and labeling, and volunteer coordination.  The week before the sale requires watering the ground to be able to drive in the plant identification stakes, coordinating plant delivery, labeling, pricing and moving to the appropriate plant ID area, setup of tents, signs, donated carts, etc.  Whew!

Finally, the sale would not happen without the members that raised and donated plants.  They include: Jeff Wainscott, Nancy Garvey, Emily Steele, Pat Lust, Betsy Washington, Beth Knight, Barb Jones, Dale Boone, Porter Washington, Paula Boundy, Carol Martin, Carla Bangs, Grace Hanners, Linda Gayle, Tish and Ron Ramsey, Ann Williams, Christine Tombleson, Linda Ball, Anne Olsen, Polly Foote, Hilda Wilson, Bonita Russell, Luann Johnson, Tamara Borland and Ian Cheyne.  Thank you.

A special Thank You to our Chapter Membership for their support on Friday’s Member Only Sale Day!  Happy planting!!

An After-Action Plant Sale Meeting will be planned and announced soon, and a final summary of the Sale will be in the Annual Report in November:

Other Chapter News:

There will be Programs in October and November that will be on our Calendar of Events with details announced to the Membership via email. 

We are soliciting committee and Board directors, along with suggestions on projects needing funding.

Again, thank you all for supporting our mission of educating the public about preservation, conservation, and cultivation of Virginia’s native plants. 

Go Native, Grow Native

Paula Boundy, President NNNPS