Dear Editor: The Conyers Cherry Blossom Festival was rainy to say the least. It was great for all the trees in the area, but not so great for our sale of the bareroot Yoshino and Kwanzan Cherry trees that is a fundraiser for the Rockdale County Education Garden. We had 500 trees to sell and only sold about 150 at the festival. That left 350 homeless trees and a loss monetarily. Many people stopped by the Rockdale Cooperative Extension Office afterwards to purchase a tree or two but we were still left with hundreds of trees that needed to find a home.

Thank goodness someone came to our rescue. It was a matter of the right person being in the right place at the right time. A Master Gardener Extension Volunteer happened to be at Pratt Industries when they expressed an interest in finding some seedlings. I wanted to take a moment and thank Pratt Industries for purchasing 200 of the Yoshiro and Kwanzan cherry trees for their employees.

Every year we sell these 4-5 foot bareroot cherry trees at the Conyers Cherry Blossom Festival to raise funds for the Rockdale County Education Garden that we are installing behind our office on Parker Road. The goal of the garden is to provide a place where residents can come and see what grows in our area and how to grow it. We have already installed a Pizza Garden for youth to come and learn where their food comes from.

Pratt's purchase of the last 200 trees enabled us to see a profit for the garden. Not only did we raise money for the garden but I foresee a beautiful Rockdale/Newton/Henry when all those tree bloom in two years!

Rockdale Cooperative Extension and Rockdale 4-h truly appreciates the community spirit of Pratt Industries. They are our cherry tree superheroes!

Jule-Lynne Macie
Rockdale County Extension Coordinator