After months of “playing in the dirt,” the Coupeville Garden Club is ready to welcome fellow greenery buffs to its collection of nearly 6,000 plants.

The 56th annual plant sale will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 26. After a highly successful sale last year at the Coupeville Recreation Hall, the club is moving its biggest event to the Coupeville High School gym in an effort to reduce the lines and provide more parking.

Here at 501 South Main Street, visitors will find over 1,000 more plants than last year, according to Brenda Faris, who is known as “the geranium queen.”

“I did not put that label on myself, but I’ve sure heard it a lot,” she said.

Among hundreds of colorful flowers in pots and hanging baskets, about 600 are geraniums, all grown from cuttings of Faris’ own collection that features about 60 different hues and varieties, she said. For people looking for flowers that stay pretty from spring to fall, geraniums are the right fit.

Faris is one of many members specializing in one area of gardening, with others taking care of bulbs, tubers and juvenile plants.

Jim Wiedman’s specialty, for example, is peppers.

Instead of having an epithet bestowed on him by his green-thumbed peers, Wiedman has simply been living up to his name ever since he joined the club two years ago.

“With a name like Wiedman, how would you not be involved in gardening?” he pointed out.

On top of the sweet and mild pepper varieties, like the little “pizza my heart” that can be grown in small containers, this year’s pepper selection particularly focuses on spiciness, he said.

Those looking to add some heat to their dishes might be enticed by the “cook your guts jalapeños,” as Wiedman called them, the moderately spicy Aleppos, or his personal favorite, the Hungarian wax pepper, which can be mildly spicy or almost twice as hot as the hottest jalapeño and are great for canning, he said.

The poblano pepper, which is mildly hot, can be roasted and stuffed with cheese, dipped in egg batter and fried, he said. This is a recipe known as the “chile relleno.”

Among the about 500 vegetable plants inside the greenhouse, Wiedman listed the crookneck squash as well as the dunja and golden zucchini — which he said are good for zucchini bread.

Other edible offerings include butternut squash, the tiny Adam cucumber and the jicama, a Central American tuberous root that Sue Kelsey said can be served with a platter of raw vegetables, including tomatoes.

Kelsey, the plant growing coordinator, said there will be over 700 tomato plants at the sale.

While looking through little tomato pots with go-getter names like “early girl,” “celebrity,” “legend” and “sweet million,” Marie Magee highlighted the “little Napoli” tomatoes, a popular choice for sauces, and the cherry tomatoes, which she said are ideal for Pacific Northwest gardeners who need something that can produce fruit quickly in the region’s short growing season.

When a dish could use some extra flavor, having herbs like oregano, basil, tarragon, fennel or dill grow right outside the kitchen can also come in handy. Virginia Brown, another club member who has never encountered a plant she did not like, said this year’s sale will have a greater variety of herbs than past editions.

“It’s lovely to make dinner and have it come from your garden,” Magee said.

Susan Fox, who holds a degree in plant horticulture and pathology, is the club’s first line of defense against bugs and illness. Thanks to her knowledge, the plants are thriving. Once they find a new home, the plants will be able to support local pollinators who play a crucial role in Coupeville’s agricultural community, she said.

Some of the club members who spoke with the News-Times said they find gardening to be a form of therapy, with the club providing a space to socialize and learn new skills.

As she cleaned and bagged up tubers of dahlias in the “fire engine,” “Ken’s rarity” and “just peachy” varieties, first-year member April Wilson said she joined the club to meet new friends and learn how to help a garden thrive on Whidbey from more experienced gardeners.

“Everybody helps each other here,” she said. “You ask questions and you get answers.”

Wilson, who was chosen to be the club’s vice president next year, recommends people of all ages and skill levels to get involved with their local garden club.

After years of longing for dirt and eagerly waiting to retire, Carmen McFayden finally found the time to join the Coupeville club, where she said the camaraderie is unparalleled.

“I’ve always loved to play in the dirt,” she said. “It’s in my blood. I have to have dirt.”

Since joining, she’s learned a lot of gardening hacks, one of them consisting of thoroughly wetting the soil before moving it into the pot. This way, she said, it will hold more water throughout the season.

The sale is a culmination of the club’s many hours of work since September, and will be followed by a clean-up of the two greenhouses. The proceeds will go towards beautifying the town at various locations, including the Rec Hall, the town’s welcome signs, the barrels, Captain Thomas Coupe Park and Cooks Corner Park.

For more information about the club, send an email to info@coupevillegardenclub.org or visit coupevillegardenclub.org.

Photo by Luisa Loi From left, Lindsey Treadwelll, Connie Bradley, Elaine Madison, Carmen McFadyen, Susan Moore, Linda Youngs stand outside the greenhouse where they have been growing almost 6,000 plants since last fall. Photo by Luisa Loi From left, Lindsey Treadwelll, Connie Bradley, Elaine Madison, Carmen McFadyen, Susan Moore, Linda Youngs stand outside the greenhouse where they have been growing almost 6,000 plants since last fall.