HOLLIDAYSBURG - Discovery Garden will host its annual plant sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Discovery Garden's gazebo at Legion Park.
The sale is made possible by the generous donations from The Home Depot, as well as other local area greenhouses and Skills of Central Pennsylvania Inc.'s Horticulture Therapy Program. A large variety of plants will be available, including annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetables. Thanks to the money raised from last year's plant sale, Skills was able to purchase an electric cement mixer for the horticultural therapy program.
The individuals have been hard at work making a large selection of hypertufa products with the cement mixer for the sale. Hypertufa is anthropic rock made from various aggregates bonded together using Portland cement. Hypertufa was invented for use in alpine gardens as watering troughs because it can withstand harsh winters. The Skills' Horticultural Therapy Program provides hands-on gardening experience for individuals with developmental disabilities and promotes community inclusion.
Each year, the individuals who participate in the horticultural therapy program start seedlings in a greenhouse, and then plant and care for them at Discovery Garden throughout the growing season.
The Discovery Garden volunteers then end the season with a harvest feast made from the vegetables grown in the garden. Celebrating 50 years of providing services, Skills is one of the oldest and largest nonprofit human services organizations in central Pennsylvania.
Skills is committed to creating opportunities, providing choice and support and promoting recovery to enhance all aspects of people's lives.
Skills serves more than 750 individuals in 16 counties and employs more than 1,000 people throughout the communities it serves. Courtesy photo
From left, Shirley Shultz, Shawn Dilling and Cyndy Dixon work with a new cement mixer purchased for the Skills Horticultural Therapy Program with proceeds from last year's plant sale. Below is an example of a hypertufa product made with the mixer.
