Seed Library Garden Club Newsletter – April 2025

Happy April🌷! The growing season is in full swing, spring ephemerals are flowering, and the weather has finally warmed up. I’d love to start by thanking everyone who came to the plant swap this past meeting. Y’all keep this club alive and growing, and I hope all your seedlings are putting down good roots. April is the perfect time to direct sow your beans and peas ahead of the heat of the summer, start your heat loving plants like okra and eggplant, and plant your sunflowers and nasturtiums to bring color and structure to your gardens!  
We’ve been growing ourselves—with help from Friends of the Library and a very industrious Girl Scout troop, the Children’s Courtyard is flourishing. Come by with your little ones to watch it bloom! If you’d like to help grow the courtyard with us, we’ll be hosting garden days soon so keep an eye out. If you’d like to become a regular volunteer to maintain the garden or pack some seed packets with us sign up here!  

• Knowledge Quest’s Green Leaf Learning Farm opened their Farm Stand! Check it out at 1025 College St.
• Get your yards ready for Experience Memphis Gardens; tours of 300 local gardens begin May 1st! 

Lots of native grown plants for sale in April: 

• Master Gardener’s Spring Fling is this weekend, April 5th and 6th , from 9am-5pm at the Agricenter.
• The Dixon is hosting a garden sale on April 11, 9am-4pm, and April 12 from 9am-2pm.
• Lichterman is doing their plant sale on April 12th from 9am-4pm.
• Memphis Botanic Gardens also has their annual Plant Sale the same weekend, April 11th and 12th, from 9am-4pm. 

See y’all on the 9th to learn from the Memphis Master of Yards Booker T. Leigh! 
 - Alexandra, Anthony, Blake, and Laura 

📅 When: Wednesday, April 9th, 2025 
🕔 Time: 5:00–6:30 pm 
📍 Where: Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3rd Floor Reading Area 

 

At our Garden Club Meeting, we’ll: 

• Learn from Booker T. Leigh how to grow a successful vegetable garden this year.
• Learn how to choose the best garden location and understand your soil quality.
• Tips for selecting easy-to-grow veg, determining the right amount of sunlight, and much more. 
• We’ll have some free seedlings to the first few folks who want them, and seeds of course! 

📢 Save the Date! We Meet Every Second Wednesday of the Month, 5:00-6:30! 

Colorcopia Nature-Inspired Art Classes 
🎨 Partnering with the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, these classes meet (just about) every third Tuesday from 1–2 pm. Learn a new garden themed art skill every month with this hands-on class. No experience necessary, just bring your creativity! 

📅 Next Class: Tuesday, April 15 , 2025 

👉 Explore classes and register here. 

Eat Smart and Move More: Eating Smart at Home 
🍎 Learn about cooking, budgeting, exercising, and family health in this six-week hands-on series. 

📅 Next Class: The first run of this class for the year has finished, stay tuned for our next course and more from our teacher Lauren Wells in the coming months! We’ve heard something about canning is in the works! 

 

We’re so excited to grow together in 2025. See you soon! 

 

🌻 Happy Gardening, 
Alexandra, Anthony, Blake, and Laura 

The Memphis Public Libraries began the Seed Library at Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in 2016 with the help of Memphis Tilth and UT Extension. It's located on the 3rd floor of Central Library and housed in a former card catalog. With donations from the public and funding from Friends of the Library and the Memphis Library Foundation to buy supplemental seeds, the Seed Library functions as a free exchange of seed packets for the Memphis community. Vegetables, flowers, and herbs—simply take what you need, and after your harvest (if possible), donate seeds from your yield. 

 

Check out the Gardening Calendar from UT Extension for an in-depth, day-by-day explanation of when to plant and what to plant.