On Mother’s Day weekend, the Blandy Experimental Farm and State Arboretum of Virginia will host its .
Operated by the University of Virginia, the hundreds of acres in Clarke County host environmental research, education and conservation efforts. Proceeds from the event, generally exceeding $80,000 a year, contribute to the efforts.
Whitacre grows thousands of plants for the annual Garden Fair and helps visitors choose and care for their selections. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
Carrie Whitacre, Blandy’s assistant curator of herbaceous gardens, propagates and grows thousands of plants at Blandy’s greenhouse each spring to sell at the annual fair. She spoke with UVA Today about what’s growing and what’s happening.
Q. What can people expect at the annual Garden Fair?
A. We generally see about 7,000-8,000 people over the weekend. In addition to the plants grown and sold at Blandy, this year‘s mix of 64 vendors includes native plant vendors like Hill House Nursery, garden supply vendors like Greg’s Art & Garden Iron, nature-inspired gift vendors, and food vendors like Laughing Crab.
I’m growing somewhere around 4,000 pots for sale this year. The heat wave and warm spring have made things grow at a faster rate than normal. All the different plants will have signs that tell people what they are and how to grow them. I’m there all weekend to answer questions and help people make their selections.
We have a scavenger hunt for the kids during the Garden Fair, where they go to each nonprofit table or group and collect a little sticker. When they bring their scavenger hunt back to the foundation booth, they’ll get a marigold to take home to plant. They are great annuals, super easy to grow and very bee-friendly.
Q. What are you growing at Blandy for the fair?
A. I looked through our vendors and noticed a lack of vegetables, herbs and easy-to-grow annual plants, so I decided that would be a good niche for us, because they’re all pretty quick turnarounds, much easier and faster than growing perennials or shrubs.
In terms of vegetables, we are currently growing 30 or so different tomato varieties, tons of basil, parsley, sweet and hot peppers, squashes, eggplants, cucumbers and more. I don’t use any chemicals. They get a little bit of slow-release fertilizer when they get transplanted, and that’s it.
Whitacre says spring heat and months of seeding and transplanting help prepare thousands of plants for the fair. (Photos by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
We are also growing annuals and perennials in the gardens. We have a zoo-themed garden where all the plants have animal-related names because kids come to us expecting to see animals. One of them, for example, is a pink flamingo celosia.
Q. What does it take to prep for the Garden Fair?
A. For the first time, this year, I have a spring intern as opposed to my usual summer intern. Emmy Woolever started in mid-March to help not only with the Garden Fair, but also working in the gardens themselves, and she is learning how to grow in a greenhouse. Normally, this time of year, I would be going in a thousand directions, but this year I’m only going in about a hundred. Having her with us at such a busy time has been incredible.
Whitacre, left, works with spring intern Emily Woolever to prepare plants for the fair. Woolever began working at the arboretum in March, helping with greenhouse growing and garden preparation during one of the busiest times of year. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
We start planting seeds at the end of February, and keep seeding through March and April. A lot of those things need to be transplanted into larger pots, so we are also doing a lot of transplanting. And of course, watering. We had a heat wave in April, so we’ve spent a lot of time watering everything.
Q. What do you do if there is remaining produce?
A. After the event is over, whenever I have leftovers, I put up a little pop-up at Blandy. It’s on an honor system, so people can drop checks and cash into a lockbox in front of our building and take their plants. It works extremely well. I don’t have to be there all day, and it’s another easy way to make even more funds for the Foundation of the State Arboretum that supports the arboretum.
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