The Vashon-Maury Island Garden Club’s annual plant sale will take place Saturday at Island Home Center & Lumber and will offer a wide variety of plants from island gardeners, including those grown organically by students at McMurray Middle School and Vashon High School.

Club members have been working for the past eight months to gather cuttings from their own gardens. They have compiled “the best of the best” to share with island plant lovers. Everything from heucheras, heathers, hellebores and ground covers like tiarella, ferns, ajuga and ornamental grasses will be offered. There will also be tomatoes, starts of greens, cold crops and peppers and flowers, such as hydrangeas, rhododendrons and even a spotty dotty or two.

Meanwhile, island students have been growing vegetables in the high school’s greenhouse free from pesticides.

“It is exciting to see our youth enjoying gardening and sharing this time with us,” garden club member Martha Gebhard said.

All of the plants have been potted and cared for to ensure buyers get strong and happy plants.

But the sale goes beyond plants and also offers gardening items such as books, tools and pots all donated by club members for sale in the Shabby Chic Garden Boutique.

“Every year we learn more about what our customers want and how to better serve them,” plant sale organizer and garden club member Martha Keenan said. “Returning this year to Island Home Center & Lumber, we will have even more space for easy shopping and quick check out.”

The event is a fundraiser for the club. Proceeds come full circle, and are put back into gardening programs at island schools, help to fund scholarships for graduating high school seniors and projects at the historic Mukai Farm & Garden.

Club member Joan Costa urges attendees to arrive early, as special items sell out quickly.

The Vashon-Maury Island Garden Club plant sale will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 6, in the Island Home Center & Lumber parking lot.

— Debi Richards is a member of the Vashon-Maury Island Garden Club.