Celebrate Garden Faire 2023 at Wills Park in Alpharetta

For the 22nd year, the North Fulton Master Gardeners will host our time-honored Garden Faire. Garden Faire 2023 will be held Saturday, April 29 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever! This year, the event will be at The Grove at Wills Park, 175 Roswell Street in Alpharetta. Mark your calendar for this annual day of gardening inspiration.

To make sure you have a wonderful experience at our faire, North Fulton Master Gardeners spend all year preparing for it by growing plants in their yards as well as at the Fulton County Schools Teaching Museum greenhouse, recruiting vendors and finalizing event details.

We recommend that you either park at the parking lot at the Alpharetta Community Center at the Grove at Wills Park or at the overflow parking lot at Amana Academy, 285 S. Main St. in Alpharetta, then hop on the free shuttle, which will run continuously from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The showcase of our faire is the Pass-Along Plant sale. Be sure to arrive early, 9 a.m. sharp, if you want to join the zealous shoppers and avid gardeners. You’ll see them pulling a garden cart or pushing wheelbarrows to get the best deals on the 2,000 plants for sale. Annuals, perennials, hanging ferns, shrubs and planters are some of the finds you’ll see that day. Our wonderful greenhouse-grown plants will feature coleus, hanging ferns, geraniums, begonias, herbs and a large variety of other annuals. The Master Gardeners’ precious passalong plants typically include ground covers, flowering perennials, hostas, iris, daylilies, herbs and many other perennial plants, including some select shrubs. All plants are grown by the Master Gardeners themselves! We love to answer gardening questions.

North Fulton Master Gardener volunteers collect vintage treasures and pass them on to you at our everpopular Fleatique market. Peruse the Fleatique sale to find that interesting pot, gadget or garden tool for your home or garden. Deals abound here!

If you bring little sprouts to the faire, look for the Children’s Corner sign. Children will want to pot a tomato plant, make a hat or terrarium, or sit for a ladybug or spider painted on their smiling faces. This free activity is available from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

We will have educational demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., which will include information about growing tomatoes, identifying invasive plants, the how and why of soil testing, and growing plants in containers.

This year we are proud to announce the return of vendors who will sell gardening-related items and plants. We still have a few slots available, so vendors may complete our virtual Garden Faire Vendor Commitment Form to apply to participate or email northfultonmastergardeners@gmail. com.

Proceeds from the Garden Faire go to support our demonstration gardens and many educational activities for children and adults.

But the best part of Garden Faire is the interaction with our community members. It gives us great joy to share our gardening knowledge with you, answer all your gardening questions, make suggestions on how to best prepare your soil for planting and what growing conditions your new plants need. Right plant! Right Place! This is your opportunity to pick our brains and we look forward to it!

For more details on Garden Faire, check out the webpage at nfmg.net/garden-faire.html and the Facebook event at facebook.com/ events/1725773191171454/.

See you on Saturday, April 29th at Garden Faire 2023 in Wills Park in Alpharetta!

Happy gardening!

North Fulton Master Gardeners, Inc. is a Georgia nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization whose purpose is to educate its members and the public in the areas of horticulture and ecology in order to promote and foster community enrichment. Master Gardener Volunteers are trained and certified by The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. Learn more at nfmg.net.

About the Author

This week’s “Garden Buzz” guest columnist is Sandra Shave, a master gardener since 2018. Sandra grew up on a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin and learned to garden at her mother’s knee. She is a recent transplant to Roswell, moving from Wisconsin in 2014 after retirement to be nearer to her children and most importantly her grandchildren. Prior to the move, Sandy worked in the medical device industry in sales, marketing and product development roles over her 35+ year career. But, she always found time to grow a garden and play with her landscape. Sandra was co-president of the North Fulton Master Gardeners in 2022 and is excited to master the art of gardening in Georgia and to help teach others via the NFMG Gardening Lecture Series and the Speakers Bureau.