2019 Spring Wildflower Market Update

By Dawn Weber
Member-at-Large, Plant Sale Chairperson, and
Chairperson, Technology Committee, Wild Ones – St. Louis Chapter

During the 2019 Mother’s Day weekend, Wild Ones – St. Louis Chapter sold 2,282 Missouri native wildflowers and shrubs to Spring Wildflower Market shoppers that were eager to learn about and purchase native plants. Some folks came in with plant lists, others were looking for guidance about what to buy, and we helped them all.

This year the weather was  different than previous years – cool on Friday and rain the entire day Saturday. We thought this might put a damper on our plant sales, but in the end, we were very close to the previous year.  

Thirty-nine Wild Ones members helped with this year’s sale by

• gathering boxes for shoppers
• setting up the booth and unloading plants
• helping customers locate and select plants
• checking out shoppers and keeping the line moving – our booth was one that did not have long lines!
• loading up the remaining plants at the end of the sale and tearing down the booth
• The Saturday volunteers were troopers! spending the whole time in the rain 

Thanks to Susan Burk and the board for once again participating in the planning for the sale I appreciate everything they do to make the plant sale successful for us and our customers.

Volunteers were given a $1 per plant discount as a thank you for donating their time, and many took advantage of the opportunity. 

After paying the vendor, our Chapter made a final profit of $4,377.  This money supports our Chapter’s gatherings, grant program, tabling event materials, the Landscape Challenge, and our support of the Native Plant School at Shaw Nature Reserve.

There were some changes this year:

• New holders for plant signs, above the tables so that they could be seen easily 
• Additional sawhorses to get more of the plants off of the ground
• We highlighted the Circle of Support rack card 

We’re thinking about 2020 already. Let us know if you have any suggestions! 

Thanks again to everyone! Hope to see you in 2020!