Master Gardener Plant Sales
Plant Sales

AMGA usually hosts plant sales twice a year: in the spring at the Midtown Mall Garden Show and then a late summer sale in the Alaska Botanical Garden parking lot.

The AMGA plant sale is a fund‐raising event with proceeds supporting AMGA scholarships, grants and other horticultural related projects in support of AMGA’s mission. The success of the plant sale will depend upon AMGA members’ providing plants & garden art to sell!

To encourage participation, 75% of the sales price will be returned to the seller. Please read these notes carefully to understand plant sale procedures.

PARTICIPATION

Current AMGA membership is required PRIOR TO THE PLANT SALE in order to sell plants or garden art.

If possible, everyone who brings plants to the sale is expected to spend some time helping with the sale. This may involve helping with set up, clean up, assisting at the check‐out station, placing and grouping like plant offerings, keeping plant sale tables orderly throughout the day, and perhaps most importantly, circulating and being available to answer questions from the general public about Master Gardeners, plants, growing culture, winter hardiness, etc.
Plant sale hours, set up/take down times and times for plant delivery, as well as specific volunteer assistance needs will be provided closer to plant sale dates.

PLANT SALE QUALITY

Presentation of plants for sale should reflect favorably upon AMGA, UAF/CES and Master Gardeners in general. Plants should be potted, weed and pest free, and plants identified with plant tags. AMGA reserves the right to remove inappropriate plants from sales tables.

PLANTS

Perennial plants offered for sale should come from members’ local gardens. Plants overwintered in local gardens are examples of plants hardy to our area. If seeded perennials or volunteer plants, they should have been at least grown in member/local gardens from spring thaw forward. Nursery orders purchased for resale are discouraged. If annual plants are offered, they should be primarily veggies or late bloomers or still have some period of flowering remaining in the season. Please bring your plants in flats if at all possible. If you want your flats returned, please mark them with your name (an address label will work), so that they can easily be retrieved at the end of the sale.

Important: Plants must be delivered before the day of the sale as determined by the plant sale committee. Plant sellers are responsible for picking up plants that remain unsold at the end of the plant sale. Plants not retrieved by the seller at the end of the sale will be disposed of as determined by AMGA.

INVASIVE PLANTS

As Master Gardeners, we have a responsibility to be alert to plants that have been identified as invasive in Alaska; plants that are being monitored for invasiveness; or are considered to have invasive potential with escape into natural habitat. AMGA reserves the right to remove plants meeting such criteria from sales tables.

For a discussion on plants NOT TO PLANT in Alaska see UAF/CEA Publication Invasive Garden Species: Don’t Plant a Problem; FGV‐00146. You can search for this publication here.

TAGGING YOUR PLANTS FOR SALE

All plants must be tagged with both plant identification (white tag) and sale price (yellow tag with seller initials and price) at time of delivery to the sale location.

Sale plants will be placed or consolidated in areas of like plants – such as ground cover, rock garden, primula, trees/shrubs, berries/fruit, bulbs, lilies, shade plants, dahlias, grasses, herbs, etc.. Placement may depend on the volume, size and/or inventory of plants for sale.
A single point check out station will process sales. The yellow pricing tags will be removed at point of sales and returned to the seller for future use AFTER total plant sales accounting is completed, typically within the following week. The yellow pricing tags are used to determine sales totals for individual sellers. 75% of the sales price will be returned to the seller, along with their yellow plant pricing tags.

All sellers are responsible for pricing their plants and/or garden art. If sale items are not tagged, AMGA will set prices and the entire sales amount will go to AMGA since individual sellers will not be identifiable.

ABOUT THE TAGS

Yellow tags are used to price plants, all other sale items, and to identify to whom it belongs. Use a permanent ink marker and CLEARLY PUT YOUR INITIALS AT THE TOP OF THE TAG and the price just below it. Yellow price tags used for garden art and other sale items may be attached to items with removable tape.

AMGA will have a supply of yellow tags to be used for pricing plants. These are the same yellow tags used by other garden clubs for their plant sales – and yellow tags from other plant sales may be used for AMGA’s sales as long as they are clearly marked with seller initials and price. The yellow tags are returned to the seller and may be reused in future AMGA and other plant sales. Yellow tags are available from AMGA; please call or email a Board member.

White tags are used to name the plant. Botanical names are desirable, along with cultivars or varieties when known. Common names may be used as a minimum. White tags are usually locally available at garden stores or nurseries. Homemade light‐colored tags made from repurposed material such as venetian blinds or popsicle sticks may also be used. Pieces of paper, paper labels, stick‐ems, etc. are not acceptable as writing quickly deteriorates.

PRICING OF PLANTS

It is often difficult and somewhat subjective to determine what price to put on plants. Wildflowers often get premium prices. Less common perennials or perennials not usually available through local plant nurseries or stores may command higher prices. Other perennials may vary with higher prices assigned to different and named varieties and cultivars or larger plant specimens. Smaller plant sizes may be priced lower than larger examples of the same plant. Prices must be rounded off to even dollar amounts: $3.00; $6.00; $9.00, etc. Later in the day or if plant sales are slow, you can reduce your prices by marking the yellow pricing tag with a new price in pencil.

Note: If you have plants to donate rather than to sell, please contact a Board member in advance of the plant sale to allow time for pick up and/or delivery and pricing.

QUICK LINKS

CONTACT INFORMATION

© Alaska Master Gardener Anchorage. All Rights Reserved.
Affordable Responsive Website Design - SPOON FROG graphics