Drawing homeowners, gardeners and plant enthusiasts from throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area for more than two decades, the annual Ellis County Master Gardeners Lawn and Garden Expo is an all-day event featuring a huge plant sale, presentations by plant experts, children’s activities and dozens of exhibitors.
Date, Time and Location
The 2024 Ellis County Master Gardeners Lawn and Garden Expo takes place from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on March 23, 2024 at the Waxahachie Civic Center, 2000 Civic Center Ln, Waxahachie, TX 75165.
Ticket prices are $5.00 for adults, cash only. Children 12 years old and younger are admitted for free. Free tickets are available from event sponsors listed on the Ellis County Master Gardeners Lawn and Garden Expo web page.
Lawn and Garden Expo Attractions
The Plant Sale
The main attraction of the annual Ellis County Master Gardeners Lawn and Garden Expo is a plant sale with both food plants and ornamentals available for purchase.
The plants are sold on a first-come-first served basis, and organizers encourage attendees to arrive early for the best selection of tomato cultivars, peppers, squash and herbs for the garden, and trees, bushes and annual flowers for the yard. Featured at the plant sale this year is a limited selection of Japanese maples.
Ask a Master Gardener Table
Anyone who needs advice on how to stop tomatoes from rotting on the vine, what to grow in the shade, how to keep aphids off of peppers or any other plant-related question may ask a trained expert at the Ask a Master Gardener table at the expo.
The table will be staffed by master gardeners throughout the day. As sources of science-backed information, the volunteers strive to give answers that are free from the old wives’ tales and outright erroneous advice that prevail among novice gardeners and on online gardening forums.
Public Presentations and Keynote Speakers
Keynote speakers recognized for their expertise offer special insights on horticultural practices each year at the expo, complementing public presentations given throughout the event.
For 2024, Ellis County Master Gardener Tom Graves will give a public presentation entitled Bugs in the Garden at 10:00 a.m.
The keynote speakers is horticulturalist Jay White of Texas Gardener Magazine who will present Growing Great Gardeners at 11:00 a.m.
Ellis County Master Gardeners Vice President Suzie Timmerman says Jay’s presentation “will show us how to go from good to great gardeners, and Ellis County Master Gardener Tom Graves will speak to us about entomology — bugs.”
Children’s Workshops and Giveaway
Acquainting younger attendees with gardening and the natural world, Ellis County Master Gardeners host children’s activities throughout the day. The hands-on activities have ranged in the past from basic seed starting to building a butterfly feeder.
For 2024, the children’s activities theme is Superstars in Our Yard which will focus on birds, bugs, lizards and snakes. A presentation on How Does Your Garden Grow will show kids how to make a tabletop worm garden.
“We will have a collection of native snakes to observe from What kind of snake is this?, and Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists and other volunteers will be on hand with Getting Your Hands Dirty activities [in making] pollination to seed balls,” Suzie says.
The first 300 children through the door will receive a How Does Your Garden Grow? coloring book, compost stew and a butterfly craft.
Exhibitors
In addition to the Master Gardeners plant sale and special exhibitions for adults and children, dozens of businesses will set up at the expo to show off their homewares, lawn and garden offerings, natural living products, and arts and crafts.
Many exhibitors will have plants, landscape tools and equipment, and home-life products available at special, event-day pricing also.
About the Ellis County Master Gardeners
The Ellis County Master Gardeners are an all-volunteer group affiliated with the Texas Master Gardener program that operates under the supervision of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
The mission of the program is to bring reliable information on gardening, landscaping, pest management and related horticultural topics to Texas residents. Master Gardeners undergo initial training and commit to serving their community each year through volunteer efforts and public outreach.