WHS Plant Sale Experiences Success

Variety of flowers at the plant sale. Photo credits: Alina Ramey

Alina Ramey, Staff Writer to The Powderhorn

During the recent plant sale held at Watauga High School’s greenhouse, everything from hanging flowers to house plants was available, offering a great variety of healthy and beautiful plants. For those unfamiliar, the greenhouse is located to the right of the school’s main entrance. A path leads around the building, followed by a left turn when the walkway opens up. At the end of the path stands the greenhouse, vibrant and colorful, inviting visitors inside. 

“We had many varieties of plants-hanging baskets with different flowers, vegetables, seed potatoes, herbs, houseplants, and so many annual and perennial flowers,” said Rachel Ingram, a student in the Horticulture II class.

The plant sale was put together completely by the 6 students enrolled in Horticulture II this year. 

“The plant sale is a way for agriculture students in Horticulture II to really experience what it's like in a real-world horticulture career,” said Ingram. “This semester, we had a small group, but we were involved and dedicated to this experience from the beginning. When our first shipment of plugs, small plants that can be grown and sold at much higher prices, arrived in January, we quickly got to work.”

The hard work of those students truly paid off, leaving Watauga County community members with a phenomenal plant sale this year. They didn’t have much time, but they put good use to all of the time they had. 

 “There hasn't been a day since that we haven't been in the greenhouse planting and organizing the plugs and seeds to get ready,” said Ingram. “The 6 of us, with the advice of Mrs. Bare, the agriculture teacher and FFA Advisor here at WHS, made decisions on everything from pricing and advertising to the organization and schedule of the greenhouse during the plant sale.”

The WHS horticulture program is a fantastic opportunity for students at Watauga High, letting students explore different experiences and have an all around enjoyable experience. 

“This class and department are very important for me and a lot of students,” said Ingram. “I think it's so great that our high school has these cool opportunities for students to take advantage of, especially if they want to go straight out of high school into a CTE career.”