Big Grey Mare
DRIVE-THRU NATIVE PLANT SALE
SATURDAY 3/13. Pinnacle Mountain State Park Greenhouse, 14339 Green Valley Road, Roland. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. $5/pot, with discounts for bulk buyers; bring cash or check.
Last March, many Arkansans were falling in love with backyard gardening for the first time. As the planting season coincided with a pandemic that landed in our state and left us homebound, Google searches for “DIY raised garden beds” and “planting zone map for Arkansas” skyrocketed, and kids all over whose school schedules had been momentarily capsized turned instead to poking radish seeds — those earliest and swiftest of sprouters — into prepared soil. This year, you can cut out some of that trial and error by visiting the knowledgeable folks from Central Arkansas Master Naturalists and Partners for Pinnacle, who will set up shop on a spring Saturday to sell pots of 22 varieties of plants native to Arkansas: milkweed, coreopsis, coneflowers, spiderwort, spiked blazing star and more. Organizers will present visitors with an order sheet when they arrive and load your choices as you circle around to the payment station. The group asks that all drive-thru visitors wear a mask when interacting with volunteers (yes, even though you’ll be inside your vehicle), and that visitors bring cash or check for their purchase. Proceeds will be used toward future plantings and other projects at Pinnacle Mountain State Park.