by Stephanie Niemeier, SWIMGA President from 1998 to 1999
Originating almost to the beginning of the organization, SWIMGA’s plant sales have taken various forms over the past thirty years. Below you will find a summary of the early days of the Plant Sales to give you a comparison to how the activity has evolved into the current Plant Sale.
Before 1997: In 1992, we began to sell geraniums as a money making project and made a profit of $400. In 1995, we introduced a plant auction which netted $200! Donna Hamilton and I chaired the final geranium sale in 1996 when we started thinking about having a “plant exchange,” which then became a “plant sale”…hoping to make money for SWIMGA.
1997: The first plant sale I was involved in took place in 1997 at the old Kuester’s Hardware Store on the west side. We had about three eight foot tables set up outside the store. Members would bring plants from their gardens, lots of them having just been dug up that morning or late the day before. Containers were all kinds, from plastic ice cream buckets to old plant containers and even plastic bags. Nothing was really marked, no pretty little containers, no information on where or how to plant. Our plant sale profited $710 and involved the help of 140 members. We had a good time and loved “exchanging” plants with our fellow gardeners. What wasn’t sold by the end of the day, volunteers took home to plant in their gardens.
1998: The second annual SWIMGA Plant Sale took place on April 25, 1998 between the Old Homestead Inn and the Saratoga Trunk Gift Shop in Newburgh from 8:00am until 2:00pm. James Johnson and I co-chaired the event. We had flyers printed and were passed out at the April meeting for members to distribute around the tristate area, in grocery stores, businesses, etc. As we got more sophisticated, we started labeling the plants. The labels, although primitive, certainly helped. We noted what we thought were the most important factors to consider when purchasing a plant: The name; what type of light it liked; if the plant was an annual or a perennial; if and when the plant had blooms and the color of the flower. The prices were $.50, $1.00, $1.50, and $2.00 unless noted otherwise. Our 115 members were asked to put their plants into containers before bringing them to the plant sale.
Plants were delivered to the site the morning of the event and we added the labels to them. If the plants weren’t in containers, we put them in containers donated by other members. Now all of a sudden, the plants started looking worthy. The plants still came from members’ gardens but they looked a bit more respectable in nicer containers with the labels attached. The day of the plant sale we started out with about 10 tables (3 long, the rest were card tables). One of the card tables was used for the cashier. Volunteers supplied their own chairs for the day. One canopy was set up (provided by the Old Homestead Inn). The plants were divided into categories per table; annual, perennials, houseplants, herbs, vegetable/fruit, ground cover, and miscellaneous items.
We had a member who lived in Kentucky and she would drive her truck up and lower the tailgate. There were tons of woodland ferns sitting in the back of her truck. I don’t remember how we transported them to people who bought them; maybe we just put them in plastic bags (that’s how some of the flowers were sold). I still have several of these lovely ferns in my gardens. We didn’t have many volunteers sign up past 9:00, however most of the volunteers stayed all day. We had rain from about 12:30 on, we actually started marking prices down and called it the “rain day special”. We didn’t make much money on the plant sale ($431), but it was all profit since everything was donated. Those of us who attended and volunteered walked away with some wonderful plants and a great day of “talking plants” with anyone who wanted to listen.
1999: The third plant sale took place on May 1, 1999 from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm between the Old Homestead Inn and the Saratoga Trunk Gift Shop in Newburgh. Abbie Rosendale was the chairman of the event. We continued to get a bit more sophisticated with the display and labeling of the plants. We netted $590.
2000 and beyond: In 2000, the plant sale was moved to the Old Farmers Market on 1st Avenue. We expanded the plant sale to having a Spring and Fall sale, each netting over $1,100. In 2001, we added a third plant sale at the Mesker Zoo which netted an addition $869 profit for us and it lasted only one year. In 2005, the plant sale was moved to Washington Square Mall which helped increased profits. The fall plant sale was dropped.
In 2008, the plant sale was moved to the 4H center which has been its location for the past ten years.