Greetings Garden Volunteers & Friends,

Our volunteers have been busy this winter working with an expert consultant to revamp and significantly improve our webpages. Accordingly, we are now proud to introduce you to our new webpage at https://marshallnativegardens.org/.  Please check our new webpages and let us know what you think.  

Also this winter, our volunteers have been working on 15 new upgraded interpretive signs that are now in the process of being installed throughout all our gardens.  Next visit to the gardens, check them out.  They are really great if I do say so myself!

March is a transition month in the landscape with warmer spring weather and more activities in the gardens. We invite you to join us for all or some of the work days that have been scheduled in March. See details below about our calendar dates and planned activities for upcoming March events.  You can see these dates in our webpage calendar and also see a detailed listing, below.

Upcoming Activities Scheduled in March:

• Thursday, March 6^th from 9:30am until 4:30pm French Broad Academy Girls will be onsite all day as two classes do service and tours. Also from 3pm until 5:30:pm, we have Project Challenge onsite to help us install potted perennials in the Bird Garden and install the remainder of our new interpretive signs. 
• Thursday, March 13th from 9:30am to 12:30pm French Broad River Academy Girls will be onsite for service and a tour. Also, from 3pm until 5:30pm we have Project Challenge onsite. Both these youth groups will be working to help with renovation of the Butterfly Garden and on general maintenance of the gardens. We always love to have volunteers join in on these service days and it is best to contact me to verify that the scheduled service has not been rescheduled/cancelled.
• Saturday, March 15th at 9:30am until 1pm we will start our MNGI work day (This is our main scheduled workday and is every 3^rd Saturday of the month). We expect to have Asheville Academy youth to also be onsite to assist our volunteers with digging and potting a number of perennial plants in Butterfly Gardens. As time permits, will we start planting native plants in the Butterfly Garden to renovate our beds – some will be given to our volunteers…  Then, at about 12:15pm we will have an informal Garden Party where food and refreshments will be provided to our volunteers and we can socialize and catch up… This is the best time every month for newbies to come to meet our volunteers and join in the garden fun!
• Wednesday, March 19th from 9:30am until 12:30pm we have French Broad River Academy Boys onsite to help with general maintenance of the gardens and we will be working on renovations of the Butterfly Garden.   We always love to have volunteers join in these service days.
• Thursday, March 20th from 3pm until 5:30pm we have Project Challenge onsite to help with general maintenance.  Come out to help if you can…
• Saturday, March 22^nd from 11am until 12:30pm in the meeting room Frank Varvoutis from “Hemlock Healers”, will be giving a presentation on Managing Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and other invasive species.  This is a free presentation co-sponsored by MNGI and the library and refreshments will be provided. You are invited!!!
• Thursday, March 27th from 3pm until 5:30pm we have Project Challenge onsite to help with general maintenance.  Come out to help if you can…
• Saturday, March 29^th starting at 12noon there will be a hybrid Executive Committee Meeting in the meeting room.  Anyone is welcome to sit in to learn about how MNGI operates.

Thanks for your ongoing interest and support for the native gardens. We hope you consider one or more of our upcoming events to be worthy of your time and will join us for service and fun! And, if you have questions, please feel free to give me a call.

Let’s Grow Native Plants,

Ed McNally
Marshall Native Gardens Pres.
828-333-3883