Garden Club to Host Plant Sale
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – The Crockett Garden Club will host its Spring Plant Sale Friday, Apr. 5 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The group will have a wide variety of plants and flowers on sale, as they show off their “Bible Garden” to visitors throughout the day.
Started in 2005, the group currently has about 50 members who meet at First Methodist Church at 701 East Goliad in Crockett. The money raised from the plant sales goes to help the group take care of several flowerbeds the group maintains around the city, from the Crockett library to the Crockett Civic Center.
Begonias, impatiens, petunias, dianthus, vinca, geraniums, marigolds, verbenas, zinnias, hanging baskets, lantana, tomato plants, herbs, Mexican heather, Mexican petunia, dusty miller, daisy, phlox, coreopsis, coneflower, lobelia, foxtail ferns, coleus, sweet potato vine,
moss rose, hibiscus, asparagus ferns, plumbago – there are plenty of plants to beautify one’s homes, while helping the group raise money.
“You get 12 plants for $15 in a flat or you could buy individual four-inch pots for about $2. We have some plants and pots like the six-inch pots, which usually run around $5, but there may be some more expensive ones for $8,” explained Connie Hand, one of the organizers. “We also sell cherry tomato plants for $15 and the hanging baskets with all the nice flowers are usually $25, but we have them for $20.”
Aside from stocking up on the pretty spring plants, the “Bible Garden,” site of the sale on Clark St. and 7th St. in Crockett, is a must-see attraction if you have never been. The garden was intended to house as many flowers as possible, which would grow in our East Texas climate. The group took over the area by the old high school, which already had some great infrastructure, including greenhouses.
Jolene Renfro said the climate in the Holy Land in biblical times was wetter than the current climate, allowing the group to house several dozen plants mentioned in The Bible.
“I asked the Pastor of First Methodist Church at the time if the garden club could use that area. ‘Yes, but it’s going to cost you,’ he said. I wasn’t sure how much it would cost, but he said we could use that area, as long as I promised to do the children’s message every Sunday at church. I said that was a good price and accepted!” Renfro laughed.
With help from Eagle Scout Andrew Walker and others, the group got the area cleaned up and set about planting their Bible Garden, while Renfro scoured the Bible for any references to plants.
“There were about 132 plant species mentioned in The Bible and we have about 68 in the garden, since not all of them are well-adapted to this climate,” Renfro said. “The tour is free, with explanations and a little brochure we give out. We can accommodate three people or 300.”
“People ask why we don’t have dogwoods in the Bible Garden. But dogwoods are not indigenous to the Middle East – they are a plant native to the Southeast United States. I think the story got started because when the dogwood blossoms, there are four panels and each has a little notch in it – kind of reddish and it blooms around Easter. And so it’s natural that people would put this story together because of the appearance of the dogwood,” Renfro explained.
What brings in locals and tourists alike to the “Bible Garden?
“Most of them are taken by the serenity of it. We have areas to walk or just sit down among the birds and flowers and relax, with no pressures or anything like that. We put a little memorial garden with the names of the people who have been in the garden club and passed awa,” Renfro said. “It has been an ongoing and fulfilling project of the garden club for lo these many years.”
To make an appointment to get a full tour and explanation of the “Bible Garden,” please call
First Methodist Church at (936) 544-2044.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
