Plant Festival 2026 Exhibitors

Welcome Table

Learn about Durham Cooperative Extension! Pick up a floor plan for the morning’s events, tickets for our free raffle, a packet of wildflower seeds for your garden, and a soil testing kit!

Panther Creek Forest Farm connects people with trees to help heal the planet! We do this by operating a native seed hub that works with our community to collect seeds from native trees and shrubs. We grow these seeds into saplings and then give them away for free. We partner in this work with Project Pando and Keep Durham Beautiful.

EMG Demo Garden is a unique city Demonstration Garden located in the Durham community that provides opportunities to teach and demonstrate practical research-based gardening techniques for a variety of urban spaces.

Tool School will feature demonstrations and give you an opportunity to have your questions answered on the best tools for your gardening jobs as well as how to clean, sharpen, and maintain your tools for years to come!

Share Your Family Garden Story at our multimedia, oral history station! Our resident historian has crafted questions to evoke memories and get you thinking about how plants and gardening have shaped your lived experience. Record your answers to share!

EMG Garden Giveaways boasts Free Garden Books and Tools! Peruse books about all types of gardening topics and check out the tools that need a new home. These are free to any attendees although we ask you to take only 1 book or 1 tool.

Soil Blocking is a simple method of starting seeds that reduces the need for plastic pots, makes efficient use of your space, and minimizes habitat for pests like fungus gnats. Stop by the booth to test out the tool and take home your very own soil block to start some seeds!

SEEDS Founded in 1994, SEEDS is a two-acre urban garden and kitchen classroom in the heart of Durham. SEEDS develops the capacity of young people to respect life, the earth, and each other through growing, cooking, and sharing food. Stop by our festival table to learn more about our programs and pick up some free, well, seeds!

Digging Durham Seed Library
Did you know that you can check out seeds from our public library? We offer vegetable, herb, and flower seeds that you can take home and plant. By providing a repository for seeds and training to plant them, the seed library helps to improve local sustainable food sources, enhance food security, develop local biodiversity, and boost Durham’s foodie culture.

EMG Container Gardening Learn how to create your own fabulous mini-garden in your favorite container. This demonstration will teach you how to mix vegetables, herbs, and flowers in containers for small spaces. Compact vegetables will be featured.

EMG Propagation Team will be on hand to demonstrate various techniques for propagating plants such as cuttings, division, layering, and more! Stop by to learn something new.

Aggies Go Green is a student-led organization dedicated to promoting sustainable agriculture, environmental stewardship, and food justice within our campus and surrounding community. Through hands-on gardening, volunteer service, educational workshops, and community partnerships, we empower students to grow their own food, support local gardens, and advocate for greener practices. Our mission is to cultivate leadership, sustainability awareness, and a stronger connection between people and agriculture.

UNC American Indian Cultural Garden (AICG) will create a gathering place to celebrate American Indian cultures and Indigenous ecological knowledge, support American Indian students as they adjust to life on campus, and serve as a teaching tool for the greater community. This garden space affirms American Indian identity, culture, and Indigenous ecological knowledge for American Indian students, the UNC campus community, and the local Triangle community, honoring Tribal Nations across the state and nation.

Frank Hyman Frank Hyman has written the best books on chickens, mushrooms and tomatoes: Hentopia, How to Forage Mushrooms Without Dying and Ripe Tomato Revolution.

Briggs Ave Community Garden is a 45-acre forested lot located in East Durham. Its purpose is to provide an urban garden for Durham families to affordably grow healthy food, learn about sustainable agriculture, conserve pollinators, build community, and increase food security. The Garden seeks to engage citizens of all ages providing free hands-on agriculture education, recreation, and fellowship in a low-stress, supportive environment. It is open to the public and seeks to attract resource-limited groups. The Garden was dedicated in 2010 as an agricultural education space.

Sacred Soil Community Garden (Quality Life Foundation) is a working learning garden committed to cultivating a quality life for all. Rooted in our dedication to addressing food apartheid, promoting mental health, advancing nutrition education, and fostering community building, we strive to create an inclusive space where individuals can learn, grow, and thrive together. Through sustainable practices and environmental stewardship, we seek to provide access to fresh, nutritious food, cultivate a deeper connection with nature, and inspire sustainable living. Together, we envision a community garden that catalyzes positive change, equity, and empowerment in our community.

Urban Community AgriNomics (UCAN) Our mission is to reduce food insecurity, reduce and reverse preventable health issues, increase academic success, and increase exposure to career opportunities in the field of agriculture. UCAN’s focus is to improve the health and wellbeing of our community by providing access to open green spaces, education and training on healthy lifestyles, seed-to-table food preparation and preservation, hands-on STEAM and organic agriculture. We empower families and individuals with access to resources to grow their own healthy food using sustainable practices, in a supportive community environment. Our work is manifested through a lens of diversity, inclusion, environmental and social justice.

El Centro Hispano works to strengthen the community, build bridges, and promote opportunities for all. Stop by our table to learn more, connect with our community, and get a free blood pressure reading!

El Futuro provides culturally-responsive mental health and substance use services for individuals and familias in an environment of healing and hope, specializing in Spanish-speaking communities.

Sensory Garden Station gives festival goers an opportunity to engage their senses of sight, touch, hearing, and smell through the medium of plants! Feel a soft, fuzzy plant, get a dose of spring color, smell fresh herbs, hear the gentle bubbling of a water feature, and much more!

Kids’ Zone Bring the whole family! Our Kids’ Zone will feature ceramic pot painting and planting as well as a fun passport project that will take families around the entire festival collecting stamps while learning, sharing, and enjoying festival exhibits!

Durham Garden Forum is an Informal group that meets once a month to enrich our gardening knowledge.

EMG Public Events Connect with our Public Events Team! Learn about upcoming events where we will be with our “Ask A Master Gardener” table or suggest a new community event where you’d like to see us.

NC Federation of Garden Clubs (NCFGC) was organized in 1935 at the NC A&T State University with the idea of uniting and strengthening all the local clubs scattered throughout the state of North Carolina. Local and statewide clubs have continued to grow, now including youth and junior members and supporting initiatives like "Beautification through Conservation." Today, these clubs focus on teaching and training young people about gardening and offering college scholarships. They also collaborate with each other and with community organizations to support students in schools, senior education programs, and a variety of local projects.

NC Native Plant Society Margaret Reid (Triangle) Chapter - Our mission is to promote the enjoyment and conservation of North Carolina’s native plants and their habitats through education, protection, cultivation, and advocacy.

New Hope Bird Alliance The New Hope Bird Alliance is an independent chapter of the National Audubon Society, serving Chatham, Durham, Orange and parts of surrounding counties in central North Carolina. The New Hope Bird Alliance strives to protect birds, wildlife, and their local habitats through conservation, education, advocacy, and outdoor enjoyment.

EMG Compost Crew Find information about, and demonstration of, multiple composting and pre-composting strategies useful to the home gardener. Come ask questions and see how to make traditional hot compost, vermicompost, and leaf mould.

Durham County Beekeepers - Explore an educational hive AND an observation hive with live bees, complete with educational materials and posters, beekeeping tools and honey bears with local honey for tasting.

EMG Backyard Chickens & Modern Homesteading - featuring Jireh Family Farm
Backyard chickens do more than produce eggs. Learn how to use garden scraps, medicinal herbs, and compost systems to support flock health naturally. We’ll cover housing, feeding strategies, soil-building benefits, and practical steps for getting started.

Story Time with Stormie Daie Children of all ages will enjoy garden and nature based books read by local storytelling legend, Stormie Daie!

Extension Master Gardener Plant Experts
Native Plants - Learn about plants that grow well in our region and support our diverse native ecosystem. Find the perfect native plants for your garden. Design your own native pollinator garden. Identify invasive plant species and find alternatives to replace them.

Non-native Perennials, Trees and Shrubs - Find ornamental, deer resistant, pollinator friendly and fruit bearing plants in this section. Explore the NCSU Plant Toolbox with our experts.

Veggies and Herbs - Get ready to plant your summer garden. See a demo of starting seeds indoors under lights. Note that warm weather varieties will need protection until after our last frost date of April 8.

Houseplants and Annuals - Brighten your indoor spaces and summer outdoor spaces with one of our Master Gardener favorites. Experts show how to root cuttings to expand your collection.