PlantFest! 2009
… your Plant Stimulus Packet
The 26th edition of the annual Hilltop PlantFest! set for Saturday, October 3 (9am – 4pm) and Sunday, October 4 (12 noon – 4 pm) promises a “pork free” Plant Stimulus Packet for every pocket. This year’s PlantFest! Steering Committee are the members of “Hodge Podge”, a recurring group of Hilltop friends and fans meeting regularly on Wednesdays, getting dirty, and having fun. Their combined understanding and appreciation of Hilltop, plants in general, and native plants in particular is capably reflected in the diversity of plant materials that will be featured at the sale.
A lively assortment of plants … trees, shrubs, perennials, vines, ferns, gingers, camellias, ornamental grasses, and more that run the gamut from native and traditional to eclectic and electric newcomers … are being imported from nurseries in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Texas as well as Louisiana and will definitely give you something to “tweet” about! Coupled with the holdings in the Hodge Podge on-site nursery, well over 5,000 plants will be assembled representing 600 different species … some making their debut at Hilltop this year. To guarantee that your loins are girded for the two-day plant shopping frenzy, we will post a listing of the plant materials being offered at the sale on the Hilltop web site (www.lsu.edu/hilltop) the week prior.
Landscape architects, contractors and designers; arborists; horticultural specialists; growers; plantsmen and women; Master Gardeners … all will be on hand to help you sidestep anything that might smack of “klunker” and select the plants that will give you the best mileage and be a perfect fit for your space. To put even more “fun” in the “Fest!”, the Hilltop Gift Shop will be joined by specialty plant and craft vendors to meet all the needs of gardeners and their gardens … books, garden tools, ironwork, and just about anything you might need for the birds. Food, cold drink, and ice cream concessions will be on hand to sustain you throughout it all.
Hilltop accepts cash, checks, Visa and MasterCard. Not to be outdone, we offer both a tax and a membership incentive. For the two days of the sale we avail ourselves of and pass along to you the special fundraiser exemption from city and state tax offered qualifying non-profits. This will apply to plant purchases only. Card carrying Friends of Hilltop members get an additional 10% discount on Hilltop plants purchased during the two days of the sale. Sa-weet!!!
Proceeds from the sale go to support our efforts to develop the site and the educational programs of the Arboretum. Hilltop is proud to recognize our new corporate member, Kleinpeter Farms Dairy, as a partner in this effort. Their participation as a PlantFest! sponsor is sincerely appreciated.
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