By Rajvee Sanghavi

 

The UCR Fall Plant Sale is a biannual event that recently took place during the weekend of October 26-27. During this weekend, individuals were invited to attend and tour the Botanic Gardens from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and browse through the many plants that were on sale. Individuals who attended the event included seniors to young children, making this a family-friendly occasion. 

 

This fall’s sale was quite successful this year. In previous years, many plants had died 

out before the sale, but thanks to the staff’s hard work, very few plants were damaged before the event. Moreover, there were many volunteers who worked on a variety of tasks, which included helping facilitate sales at the cash register, pruning and cleaning plants, and providing customers with detailed descriptions of the plants. There were also student volunteers from University Honors who helped wheelbarrow plants and act as “security” to watch over the plants. 

 

There were also workshops that took place to serve the interests of both adults and children alike, such as the “How to Prune Roses” workshop. Small children flocked to the “Make Your Own Fairy Garden” workshop, where their imagination was given free reign over many interesting items. The children were given a box with an assortment of different plants, which also served as supplies for a makeshift fairy house. As a final touch, they were able to select a little fairy doll to inhabit their newly designed fairy garden. Some of the children even had wings 

 

to wear on their backs so that they too could become a part of the fairy garden that they had created.

 

The botanical gardens event sold a wide variety of plants, from cacti to trees to rain lilies. Profits from the sales will be used for the upkeep and maintenance of the gardens, which the staff hopes to continue to grow and expand throughout the upcoming years.