HANGING BASKETS, especially the fuchsia hanging baskets, are probably the most popular item at both Battle Ground and Prairie high schools’ plant sales each year. Photo by Joanna Michaud
THE PLANT SALES at both Battle Ground and Prairie high schools will offer thousands of plants for customers to choose from. Prairie’s sale will be held Sat., May 3, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and Battle Ground’s will be Sat.-Sun., May 3-4, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Photo by Joanna Michaud
USUALLY THE FIRST thing to go at Battle Ground and Prairie high schools’ annual plant sales, fuchsia hanging baskets and mixed hanging baskets can make great Mother’s Day gifts or can simply brighten up a backyard. Photo by Joanna Michaud
Whether you love to garden and hope to bring home a whole truck load of colorful plants or if you just want to get a unique hanging basket plant for your mom for Mother’s Day, the plant sales at Battle Ground and Prairie high schools will probably have what you’re looking for.
Each year, horticulture classes at the two high schools put on their annual FFA Plant Sale.
This year, Prairie High School’s plant sale will be held Sat., May 3, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., in the Prairie Greenhouse located at the southwest corner of the high school campus at 11500 NE 117th Ave., Vancouver. Prairie horticulture teacher Steve McNeal said the hanging baskets in Prairie’s greenhouse are by far the best sellers at the plant sale. Hanging baskets are available for $25 and vegetables are available starting at $1. Baskets and other plants available will include fuchsias, ivy geraniums, mixed petunia, New Guinea impatiens and other plants in between.
Last year, McNeal said the plant sale brought in about $9,000 before expenses. The money is used to fund greenhouse expenses, seeds and starts for next year, as well as FFA expenses like travel to the state convention, etc.
The Battle Ground High School plant sale will be held Sat.-Sun., May 3-4, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., at the greenhouses on the high school campus, 300 W. Main St., Battle Ground.
Chris Yorke, horticulture teacher at Battle Ground High School, said there will be approximately 20,000 plants for sale in the two greenhouses on the Main Street side of the campus. The yearly sale at Battle Ground is also a fundraiser for the horticulture program to help raise funds for supplies needed for the program. The Battle Ground High School sale usually raises about $24,000 on average each year.
Horticulture students at both high schools work to organize, promote and run their school’s plant sale each year. Some work during the plant sales as cashiers or help people load plants in their car. They also walk through the greenhouses and help customers with any questions they might have.
The fuchsia hanging baskets at Battle Ground High School’s plant sale are extremely popular among customers and are usually one of the first things to go at the plant sale. Other plants traditionally available at the Battle Ground sale are marigolds, geraniums, petunias, impatiens, black-eyed Susans, vegetable plants and more.
For more information about Prairie High School’s plant sale, contact McNeal at (360) 885-5000. For more information about the Battle Ground High School plant sale, contact Yorke at (360) 885-6522.
