Get ready for the Markyate Plant Sale

From modest beginnings 21 years ago, the Markyate Plant Sale has grown into a full-blown garden party and raised nearly £85,000 for the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted.

The sale will be held on Saturday May 26 from 10am, as always in the picturesque gardens of 64 High Street, Markyate, and entry is free.

More than 7,000 annual bedding plants have been potted up ready for the sale, and carefully grown on at Rothamsted Research Station. They include several exciting new colours of old favourites and some new additions .

There will also be a selection of perennials, herbs, vegetables and hanging baskets.

Visitors can enjoy filled rolls, home-baked cakes and freshly brewed tea and coffee while being entertained by The Quintet of Six, an ensemble from the Woburn Sands Band. There will be fun for the childrenand a raffle.

Ian Bradley, who has been involved with organising the event since the beginning, said: “The Plant Sale has grown hugely since we started in 1997. Last year we welcomed several hundred visitors as well as Three Counties Radio, and raised £9,397.

We were delighted that our green fingers generated such a worthwhile sum of money for the hospice. Many people in Markyate have been touched by the charity’s work and I am so pleased we are able to give something back.”

See www.stfrancis.org.uk/support-us/events/detail/markyate-plant-sale