As the weather becomes warm and plants begin to bloom, Wakefield students take advantage of the season by hosting their annual plant sale. From a variety of plants to raffles and small businesses, the plant sale has something for everyone to enjoy.
Preparing for the spring season is a year-round activity that requires care and attention from all the students in horticulture classes. Vice President of FFA, Natalie Vandervlies, makes sure that goals are met and everything runs smoothly.
“Maintaining and ensuring everything in the greenhouse is happy and healthy is difficult, and takes many hours of devotion a day” Vandervlies said. “With so many plants and so many different needs, it is important that those watering and caring for plants are observant and responsive.”
Every year, the plant sale continues to grow the collection, the products and most importantly, the team. Wakefield’s FFA chapter and the members of horticulture classes work collectively to improve the event year after year.
Vice President of the FFA chapter and Wake County’s Federation Reporter, Jose Hernandez-Galguera, used what he overlooked last year to make 2024’s plant sale better than ever before.
“Last year’s plant sale was a major success and we hope that having more plants this year means we can have inventory for longer and, hopefully, better build our image in the Wakefield community,” Hernandez-Galguera said. “We’re also welcoming student businesses like Seaside Succulents selling their own products as well.”
Seaside Succulents is a business started by senior Evan Calabria. In his junior year of high school, Calabria saw a wide variety of sea shells while on a fishing trip at the North Carolina coast. Using his entrepreneurship and design skills, he planted different succulents into the colorful shells to create a unique decor item.
“The plant sale was a huge success last year,” Calabria said. “After the event was over we only had five shells left, which I was really happy about.”
The plant sale is not only a way for the horticulture classes and Wakefield’s FFA chapter to sell plants, but it also allows other students to broadcast their small businesses around the school. From tarot card readings to succulents in shells and gorgeous flowers, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
“We are selling mixed pots, a variety of herbs, hanging baskets, bedding plants, succulents, houseplants and so much more,” Hernandez-Galguera said.
Nhan Tran, Treasurer of the FFA chapter, is excited to work on his last plant sale at Wakefield and has witnessed the progress that FFA has made over the past few years.
“I’m most proud of seeing all of the familiar faces and new faces that are popping out to our sale because it shows that our program really is growing, and it’s growing well enough for people to return and for new people to be reached,” Tran said. “At the end of the day, it all comes down to improvement and I can assure you that we have 100 percent done that.”
Although it might seem rather simple to care for plants, the team of students and staff work together all year to prepare for this event.
“We begin getting shipments of plants as early as September and they are handled and cared for by the horticulture classes, particularly the advanced studies classes,” Vandervlies said. “Cleaning and organizing the greenhouse happens a couple of months before the sale.”
These senior FFA leaders have left a lasting mark on Wakefield’s FFA chapter and are making their last plant sale a memorable one. The event continues until Monday, April 22 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., so go visit and support the Wakefield FFA community.
“Of course, there are certain plants within a population that struggle, but with how much we have packed in [the greenhouse], I am very impressed with how everything came out,” Vandervlies said. “We’d also love to thank our amazing advisor Mrs. McLamb for blowing up our sale last year.”
