CAZENOVIA — The Cazenovia Garden Club (CGC) is planning to hold its spring plant sale on Saturday, June 1, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., in Telephone Park, the strip of green along Albany Street in front of Kinney Drugs and Dave’s Diner.
The club will be selling a variety of perennials, silent raffle tickets for items from local businesses, and a wide array of decorative pots filled with annuals.
All the perennial plants will be coming from CGC members’ home gardens.
“It’s a wonderful way for the community to benefit from the local gardeners who toil over their gardens from year to year,” said CGC member Connie Hasko, who is chairing the spring sale committee. “Many perennials can or need to be divided, and this division allows the CGC to use the plants for the sale. This is a great way for us to keep our prices down.”
CGC has not offered annuals at its spring sale for a few years, primarily because it is challenging to compete with major retailers.
According to Hasko, the idea of selling annuals in pots and planters this year was inspired by a collection of unique pots that was donated by one of the club’s members.
“We thought this would be a great way for those members who don’t have perennials to share, to contribute in another way,” Hasko said. “They can select one of the available pots or planters, fill it with plants, and then donate that to the club for the sale. These containers are amazing — brass, copper, ceramic. [There are] really cool options.”
For over 70 years, the non-profit CGC has been working, often behind the scenes, to beautify the Cazenovia community and bring together people with mutual interests in home gardens and civic improvement.
Proceeds from the 2024 spring sale will help fund CGC’s village beautification efforts, including its spring/summer plantings and winter holiday garlands, wreaths, and window boxes.
“You may have seen us out there in the last week cleaning up the south end of Cazenovia Lake for Earth Day and planting pansies throughout the village,” said Hasko.
CGC is a member of both the VI District of the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State, Inc. and the Central Atlantic Region of National Garden Clubs, Inc.
Founded in 1949 and federated in 1960, the club aims to stimulate interest in horticulture, develop skills in the beautification of home and community, create an awareness of national and local conservation problems, inspire a desire to serve in these areas, and further the goals and objectives of the regional and national organizations to which it belongs.
According to Hasko, CGC currently has 72 members and is always accepting more.
“We greatly value the fresh perspectives and contributions of our members,” she said.
Hasko, who is an avid gardener, also stated that before joining the club, she was impressed by how wonderful the village looked throughout the year.
“Once I retired, I thought [joining] would be a great way for me to become involved in the community and make a contribution,” she said. “That was a great decision; the club has wonderful members who are generous with their knowledge. It’s quite a gem.”
To learn more about getting involved with CGC and the many ways it contributes to the community, visit cazenoviagardenclub.org.
