Sometimes Master Gardeners only act in an advisory role and sometimes they are an active participant. Maybe the Master Gardeners would want to sell some of their own plants and donate part of the proceeds to you? The sooner you ask, the better. You are going to need plastic pots of various sizes but mostly one gallon. You will need tags to identify and price plants. You will need a potting mix and you will need a holding space. During the sale you will basically need two areas roped off: Plants for sale and Plants that are sold (while people shop for more). You will need 2 or 3 cashiers, and you may need plastic bags or cardboard boxes and newspapers You will also need wagons and carts (I have borrowed shopping carts from along the road and returned them to the store afterwards) You will need watering cans and a hose. you may need a small overhead canopy or open sided tent with table and chairs. This will also be an opportune time to sell other garden-related items like seeds, cuttings, garden art (If someone wants to set up a booth to sell garden wares, charge them for the space). You might even wish to sell coffee and cookies to your patrons. Very importantly you will need to advertise and promote your event and you will need lots of signs put up the night before not the morning of the event. Have volunteers come in shifts, not all at once. Plan what you are going to do with leftover plants. Advertising is the key to success. Don't try to do it all yourself, break it down into individual tasks and delegate.
You are welcome.

Boy Eddie you must have organized a few of these heh? Great ideas and I guess your right, there are a lot of details to attend to. Thanks!

If I have areas for people to sell crafts or plants and charge for their space do I need a permit to do this? May be a stupid question but just trying to cover all bases!

Keek

No, you don't need a permit for a one time (or once a year) event. I am almost certain someone will disagree with that last statement but just remember, it's easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission. I haven't actually run one of these events but I have been involved at different positions and have kept my eyes open. You may let other people sell crafts but maybe not plants as they would be in competition with you. I know, I said let the Master Gardeners sell plants and pay you a percentage but on second thought.....you decide.

our garden club has had plant sales in MI for many years. Yes, you need a permit/plant inspection ($35 versus a $2,00 fine)and woody plants cannot be sold. if you email me you home address I can send you a detailed agenda on how we run our sale. (your name, etc did not show up when I accessed your question so I could not access your home page). have your plants individualy labeled with name (regular & latin) on a piece of old mini-blinds or popsickle sticks--then a seperate stick with the price only-easy to pull out the price stick to run up a total for the customer. have the plants all on tables for easier viewing. have the master gardeners set up a 'help' table and have them bring books to ID your plants and give growing suggestions. organize your plants by type-- shade together, houseplants together, etc. we run it for 4 hours, 9 to 1--workers arrive 1/2 hour before it starts and stay for 2 1/2 hrs. then the scond crew comes for 2 1/2 hours to include the clean up. the last 45 minutes we start discounting the plants, the last few workers can take anything for free. We set up the donated plants, about 800 of them, the night before, and members can buy plants then - at full price. the sale of crafts have never gone over well at the plant sale, but this year we will be selling worm castings (have a display board to show 'with and without' comparison photos) 5 lbs for $5-and tickets for our second garden walk. we put up a 2x4' A-frame in the middle of town for a week to advertise the sale (get permission from the landowner/store and a free permit from the town). we have our sale the end of May so our divided plants look better after being grown in pots for a while, and the weather is more stable for the workers. coffee or juice for the workers is appreciated--along with a bench to relax on when it is slow. We also have an info sheet about our club, with meeting dates and speakers listed with a memberhsip form. I'm sure there is alot more detail, but can't tink of all of them right now.

"(your name, etc did not show up when I accessed your question so I could not access your home page)"
I simply clicked on the name Keeker at the top of her post then clicked on "send me an email" that will put you in direct contact.

the opening line with the question/green leaf and the line with the 'posted by ______on __________' does not appear at the top of the thread on my screen. don't know why this happens sometimes, but it does.
also you will need some change ($$)depending on how you price your plants. at our sale, a 4" pot of violets is $.25 while a hybrid hosta crammed into a 2+gallon pot will sell for $5. good luck.

My daughter painted faces on rocks and sold them to raise funds for charity. Also painted some as lady bugs. another time she painted sayings on sea shells "happy birthday... get well... I love you' etc. These are things older children could do. Use acrylic waterproof paint.

The Master Gardeners here hold a spring plant sale at the High School's spring celebration. The HS sets up the event, invites craft vendors, sometimes has music, and sells plants of their own that they grow in their greenhouse. Even though both the MG's and the HS are selling plants, they don't see it as a competition but mutually beneficial. The more plants, the bigger the draw. MG's have helped the HS students by providing some of the instruction for running the greenhouse, so don't get charged the fees other vendor's would.

Not every state and county MG program operates under the same guidelines, so ask your county program to see if there is any interest there. Since the community service they provide often is educational, they may be interested in setting up a garden information table; or may want to have some sort of demonstration. If they would want to sell plants also, then you would want to coordinate what is offered so there is not too much overlap in material.

Our Garden Club has a simpler way of pricing: By the pot size. A 2" pot is xx$$, a 4" pot is xx$$, etc. There will be no switching of price tags that way. You just need a Price poster or two where everyone can see it. It's also easier for the cashiers. Stay away from cents, that is, keep it all in whole numbers. After the first year, we had someone to help out with cultural requirements. No problem with that as about 1/3 of our membership are Master Gardeners. And that type of assistance from MG's counts as service.
As far as borrowing the shopping carts, ask permission from the grocers first. They cost upwards of a $100.00 each and I've known of people who have been prosecuted for theft.
Permit requirements vary by locale. Ours was in a City owned Park and we just asked permission from the local Gvt. entity. No charge and they were happy to have something going on in the Park. BTW, we also maintained several garden areas in that Park.

Keeker.

I know from personal experience that these types of events require lots of planning & all the help you can get. What's the worse thing that could happen if you asked for MG volunteers? I say go for it, you have nothing to lose.

Summer

Thanks everyone!

I have gotten some very good ideas and advice! Some even have mailed me information! (Thanks Chris in Saline, Mi :))I am getting the info out this week to the parents and students. I have brought up the idea around school and I have had a good response. Now we will see who actually will show up to help when I set a meeting date for planning and organizing. This is where I am a little nervous... I'll get over it. You don't know till you try. I just got out my own plant/seed orders today to mailorder catalogs. It's a little late for me but maybe it will keep me from starting seeds to early! I get anxious to start. We just got another 8 in of snow on Sunday! I did some winter sowing 2 weeks ago hopefully it works and I'll have some nice seedlings for the sale in May.

Thanks for the good intentions rm. I don't really know of epimediums used much around here. We are Zone 4 and I looked them up and they seemed to grow up to a zone 5. They look like spring plants we would see up here in the woods. I know not very technical but I just love growing plants Im not great at remembering botanical names. :)
Some one out there might know of any epimediums used in the midwest? Is there a common name for them I actually might know?

Keeker