Marketing and Communications Dept.
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. – The Blue Ridge Community College horticulture program will hold its inaugural fall plant sale on Saturday, October 7, as part of the Farm City Day event in Hendersonville’s Jackson Park. Live plants including mums, perennials and woody plants will be available for purchase through the event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Payment is accepted by cash or check, and all proceeds from the event will benefit Blue Ridge’s horticulture program.
“At Blue Ridge, horticulture students experience and explore the green industry at all levels,” explained Rachel Meriwether, horticulture department chair. “All the plants are student-grown, both from cuttings as well as seeds, and they will be applying their business skills by running this fall sale at each step.”
Meriwether hopes the sale will help fund her students’ travel and fees to attend the Green and Growing Conference hosted annually by the North Carolina Nursery and Landscape Association.
“We’re hoping to bring as many students as possible to attend two days of educational and trade show events at this premiere conference,” she added. “This event helps students to broaden their understanding of the horticulture industry, as well as build connections for future employment and opportunities here in North Carolina.”
The fall plant sale will be a first for the College. It joins the annual spring plant sale in April, which attracts plant appreciators to Blue Ridge Community College from across Western North Carolina.
The horticulture program at Blue Ridge Community College was established in 1980 to offer education and training to students interested in pursuing careers in agricultural and related fields. The program offers certificate, diploma and degree options.
Learn more about studying horticulture at Blue Ridge Community College at www.blueridge.edu/horticulture, or contact r_meriwether@blueridge.edu for more information.