Black Mountain Garden Sale returns to downtown

Annual Black Mountain Beautification Committee fundraiser is back for its 18th year

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
May 12, 2023

The Black Mountain Garden Sale, an annual fundraiser hosted by the Black Mountain Beautification Committee, will return for its 18th year, May 19 and 20. Photo by Fred McCormick

With spring in full bloom, an annual Black Mountain Beautification Committee fundraiser is returning to the center of town for its 18th year.

The 2023 Black Mountain Garden Sale will feature 21 vendors, the most in its history, and be held in the Town Square parking lot, from 4 - 8 p.m., Friday, May 19, and from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Saturday, May 20. 

The sale serves as the primary fundraising campaign for the volunteer-led BMBC, which formed in 2000 to maintain and nurture the green space throughout the town. The nonprofit organization, which boasts more than 100 active volunteers, is involved in a wide range of aesthetic improvements throughout the community.

The BMBC moved the sale last year, from its longtime home in the Monte Vista Hotel parking lot to the east side of Town Square. The increased visibility and proximity to local businesses was convenient for the steady flow of customers, according BMBC Garden Sale Committee Chair, Roynan Jones.

“The ability to get to restaurants and shops was great, and we had people coming out of dinner who just walked right over,” she said. “People were able to find us easily, and parking was plentiful.”

The 10-person organizing committee has met monthly since February to plan the sale, which will include booths from nonprofit organizations, Buncombe County Extension Master Gardeners and the Swannanoa Valley Tree Alliance.

Around 20 vendors will participate in this year’s event, which will spread from the parking lot to nearby Honeycutt Street.

Many longtime participants in the Garden Sale are set to return, while new vendors include Black Mountain-based Griffith Garden Art and Useful Plants Nursery, which specializes phytonutritional, food and medicine plants adapted to the Southern Appalachian mountains.

BMBC fundraising booths will feature a plant raffle and the Members’ Market, which raises money for the organization’s annual Seed Money grant. The market will offer 25 items or services donated by committee members, ranging from a Peterson bluebird house, to a residential landscape design consultation, to an Italian herb combo.

BMBC tote bags, featuring a print of a painting by Joyce Black-Woerz and the organization’s logo will be available for $25. The organization will also offer new gardening tool belts, featuring its logo, for $35.

“So many people stop us around town and thank the BMBC for all it does for the town,” said member Renee Soulis. “The Garden Sale is really an opportunity to help us do what we do, and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone there.”

For more information on the 2023 Black Mountain Garden Sale, including a complete vendor list and items available in the Members’ Market, visit blackmountainbeautification.org.