Saturday will be an opportunity for gardening enthusiasts of allages to gather downtown and shop and learn about all sorts ofhorticultural issues at the seventh annual Spring GardeningExtravaganza, sponsored by the Brookhaven Master Gardeners.

The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Railroad Park indowntown Brookhaven, from in front of the Brookhaven-Lincoln CountyChamber of Commerce to the railroad depot.

Former Mississippi Master Gardeners State President HomerRichardson said there will be seminars from several gardeningexperts that will be open to the public in the depot, starting at10 a.m. with Buds and Blooms owner Donna Case.

At 11 a.m., Supertalk radio personality “Garden Mama” NellieNeal will answer questions of gardeners and prospective gardeners,and at 1:30 p.m., Dr. David Ingram will discuss plant diseases andhelp attendees identify problems and suggest corrections.

Richardson said the event itself has grown and blossomed everyyear.

“We’ve tried to bring vendors downtown with events and seminarsin a family-friendly environment at a time when people startwanting to do things in their gardens,” he said. “It just tends toget bigger, and over the years we’ve tried to get more variety inthere.”

Richardson said the event is not just for green thumbs, but forgreenhorns too.

“If you’re not into plants, you’ll have something else to lookat,” he said. “This event is really family friendly, and we’ll havehamburgers and homemade ice cream. Even if you’re not going to buya gardening thing, it’s just nice to be in the park under the shadetrees.”

Vendors will not only have plants and food to sell, but willhave birdhouses, yard art, worm castings, specialty fertilizers,pottery, bedding and other items.

The popular “Kids Can” booth will be back as well, Richardsonsaid. Children will be allowed to pot their own plants to take homewith them.

“This gets them used to working with plants, so it’s not justpulling weeds,” he said. “They’ll take home a little potted plantthat they can take care of.”

Proceeds from the Spring Gardening Extravaganza go to fundMaster Gardeners’ projects through the year, such as landscapingthe park at Kids’ Kingdom and planting Sasanqua Camelliasdowntown.

“It also gives us a chance to work with the community and letthem see what Master Gardeners do, and we can encourage people tojoin as well,” Richardson said.