Plant It Forward - Native Plant Giveaway and Plug Sale
POST UPDATE 9.27.25
What an incredible success! We gave away 100 + Pollinator Pocket Gardens, sold out of our native plant plugs in less than 2 two hours and gave away two great prize bundles.! All thanks to our amazing partnership with The Congregtional Church UCC Tryon, thanks to our volunteers and to each and every person who came to shop and enjoy the fun!
Plant It Forward: Native Plant Giveaway & Plug Sale Aims to Boost Biodiversity in the Foothills 🌼
On September 26th the Gardening for Life Project (GFLP), in partnership with the Congregational Church, UCC in Tryon, invites the community to Plant It Forward—a celebration of native plants and a meaningful step toward restoring biodiversity in the Carolina Foothills.
The main happenings will be at The Congregational Church UCC Tryon, At the church we are giving away 100 pollinator pocket gardens, we are selling a fantastic selection of native plant plugs and too, we are having a free drawing for two great garden prizes. Read on for all the details.
Event Details
🗓 Friday, September 26 | 4–7 p.m.
📍 Two downtown Tryon locations:
1. Congregational Church UCC in Tryon
📍 210 Melrose Ave, Tryon, NC 28782
🌿 4–7 p.m.
Pick up your free pollinator pocket garden (100 kits available—first come, first served)
Shop from a wide selection of affordable native plant plugs
Enter to win one of two Plant It Forward Garden Bundles (Includes gardening books, tools, plants and more. Retail value over $250!)
Enjoy a self-guided walkabout through the church’s flourishing native garden
2. Trade Street – Fourth Friday Festivities
🌿 5–7 p.m.
Join the fun downtown and stop by the GFLP table to:
Learn about our native plant giveaway and plug sale
Enter to win one of two Plant It Forward Garden Bundles (Includes gardening books, tools, plants and more. Retail value over $250!)
3. Bonus Stop – The Depot Garden
📍 10 Depot Street, Tryon, NC 28782
On your way between the church and Trade Street, visit the Depot Garden, lovingly maintained by the Tryon Garden Club. This once-exotic garden is now being transformed into a flourishing native habitat. Come see the change and get inspired.
About the 100 Garden Giveaways …
As part of this special event, GFLP will give away 100 pollinator pocket gardens, each containing 5-7 native plant species selected for their beauty, ease of care, and exceptional benefits to wildlife. The giveaway begins at 4 PM at the church.
* To receive a free pollinator pocket garden be one of the first 100 folks to arrive and please bring a cardboard box or tote for our volunteers to pack your plants in. * One per family until they are all given out.
Just imagine the ripple effect: 100 new pollinator gardens (and thousands of native plant plugs from the sale) taking root across our community. Each one will become a small sanctuary, offering nectar, pollen, and shelter for butterflies, bees, moths, hummingbirds, and countless other species that are essential to healthy ecosystems.
The urgency is real: pollinators—especially butterflies and native bees—are in steep decline. In North America, more than one-third of native bee species have disappeared, and Monarch butterfly populations have plummeted by nearly 90% in recent decades. A leading cause? Habitat loss.
But there is hope—and it starts in our own backyards. Planting native species is one of the most joyful and impactful ways we can help.
Pocket Gardens will include one of each of the following (our volunteers may need to make substitutions the day of):
Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum)
Calico Aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum)
Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)
One variety of Rudbeckia (Rudbeckia triloba or Rudbeckia fulgida)
Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora)
Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
Grass-leaved Goldenrod /also called Flat-topped Goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia)
Tall Bellflower ( Campanula americana)
* Plants are lovingly shared from Corrie’s garden, Karen Bird’s garden, Milkweed Meadows and WNC Wild Ones.
Quick planting tips: Keep watered well until they go into the ground and then water frequently until settled in / Because these plants have been gifted by area gardeners and planted in their super rich soil, some weeds might pop up - pull them out / We cannot guarantee the success of each plant / Study the plant cards on display at the event to determine the growing needs of each species.
More about the Plug Sale
The Congregational Church UCC in Tryon is a community committed to creation care and justice. Specific to pollinators and native plants, members of the congregation share in the knowing that without pollinators the survival of all creation is at stake. Their excitement to offer native plants at great prices via this fall’s plug sale reflects their commitment to enhance biodiversity in the Foothills. Purchasing these plugs is a cost effective way to fill your beds with native plants and to make your yard a wildlife and habitat haven.
* In the spirit of supporting as many families as possible in getting a pollinator garden going there will be a maximum purchase per species of 10 plugs. With over 15 species to choose from this still allows you to buy lots of plugs.
Shopping tip: come back by at 5:30 and any plants still available will be for sale - with a 5 species minimum and no maximum
Price:
$2 per plug
Minimum order per species - 5 at $10
Maximum order per species - 10 at $20
Cash or Credit Card
Bring a box or tote
Available Species:
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
Conoclinium coelestinum (blue mistflower)
Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf coreopsis)
Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower)
Helenium autumnalae (Helen’s flower)
Iris virginica (southern blue flag iris)
Liatris spicata (blazing star)
Lobelia elongate (blue lobelia)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot)
Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)
Penstemon digitalis (foxglove beardtongue)
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (slender mountain mint)
Ratibida pinnata (yellow coneflower)
Rudbeckia triloba (brown-eyed susan)
Solidago odora (sweet goldenrod)
Symphiotrychum oblongifolium (aromatic aster)
Verbena hastata (blue vervain)
Vernonia noveborascencis (New York ironeweed)
Veronicastrum virginicum (culver’s root)
What is a plug?
A native plant plug is a young, starter native plant, grown in individual cells of a tray, that is easily transplanted into the ground. These plants have vigorous, compact root systems, making them ideal for large projects, filling in established gardens, and creating dense stands of native vegetation in meadows and pollinator gardens. Plugs are a cost-effective option, require less work to install, and tend to establish quickly compared to larger potted plants.
Download our handy how-to infographic: Plant Plugs - Their Benefits and How to Plant
🌱 Learn more about native plant gardening and get planting tips:
👉 https://www.gardeningforlifeproject.org/habitatscaping-in-the-carolina-foothills
Together, we’re planting it forward, and planting hope, one pollinator garden at a time. 🌍 Conservation begins at home.
This project is made possible thanks to the generous support of community partners, including:
Conserving Carolina, New View Realty, Claussen Walters Real Estate, Champions for Wildlife, Alice Dobbs, Larry McDermott and Anita Saulmon, and many others.
