Bethel Library Plant Sale dedicated to Jim Lowe

Plant diggers available; will make house calls.

Volunteer diggers will be fanning out through the area over the next couple of weeks to collect donated plants for the annual Bethel Library Plant Sale, scheduled for June 5.

This year's event is dedicated to the late Jim Lowe, a former president of the library's Board of Trustees, who passed away earlier this year.

The 15-year-old fundraiser annually provides more than 500 plants for sale, many of them donated from the gardens of area residents.

"It's a way for people to support the library and to share their plants and love of gardening," said Susan Parker, a volunteer on the Plant Sale Committee.

This year it's also a way to share memories of Lowe's dedication to the event and the library.

A longtime plant lover, he worked at Mt. Greenery greenhouse in West Bethel.

Area greenhouses also provide strong support to the sale, Parker said.

Most plants offered in the sale are perennial flowers. But there are some annuals as well.

She encourages local gardeners who have plants they would like to divide, or that have spread to unwanted areas, to call her at 824-4767. "We'll come and help divide them," she said. "And we'll follow your orders and do it just the way you like."

Or if gardeners wish to dig themselves, the library committee can provide extra plastic containers, as well as tags to name and describe care for the plants.

Plants fare best when dug about a week ahead of the sale and stored in the shade.

The sale will be set up on the lawn outside the library on Broad Street. 

Parker suggests coming early. The event takes place from 9 to 10 a.m., but most plants are often sold in the first 20 minutes. Volunteers will stay on until all the plants are gone.

One year, she said, demand for a particular variety of plant was so great that a donor left the sale and ran back to her garden to collect more.

Parker encourages anyone with questions to call her.

This year's Bethel Library Plant Sale fundraiser is dedicated to the late Jim Lowe, former president of the library's Board of Trustees. He is shown here, second from left, in a photo from last year. Also pictured are (left) secretary Becky Kendall; volunteer Sarah Southam; former president Marvin Owinga; librarian Michelle Conroy; volunteer Pinkey Reinbold and (seated) Norm Davis, a longtime volunteer and plant advisor for the sale.