Gardening is a hands-on activity.

And no organization in the Cedar Valley is more "hands-on" than Green Scene.

It is 100 percent volunteer powered, and the work these volunteers do in planting trees and other projects beautifies our community.

On Saturday, the 32nd annual Green Scene Plant Sale takes place on the National Cattle Congress grounds. Hours are 9 a.m. to noon. Admission is free.

The earlier date and location in NCC's ag building are different this year, but gardeners will find the same good quality plant material, including daylilies, hostas, perennials, alpine and dwarf conifers and more.

"Mouse Ears," a pretty little hosta named hosta of the year, will be available, along "Rozanne," the perennial of the year.

Funds raised by the plant sale makes the group's projects happen.

Green Scene is adept at tapping into gardening trends, such as renewed interest in xeriscaping, the art of water conservation through creative landscaping and choice of plants, as well as interest in alpine and dwarf conifers.

In the past 15 years, in fact, Green Scene has designed a series of gardens especially for Courier readers, incorporating plants that can be purchased at the sale.

Glancing back through the files, I came across the series of "garden art" designs inspired by Flemish masters and modernist painter Mondrian. From 1998, those designs sought to recreate the lushness of bouquets in Flemish paintings and the geometric blocks of color found in Mondrian.

Heirloom and old-fashioned perennial and annual varieties were prominent in the Flemish design, including peony, calendula campanula and love-in-a-mist (nigella). Mondrian screamed out for monochromatic colors arranged in a geometric design, separated by black rock paths imitating black lines in the paintings.

Here was Mondrian plant list:

White - daisy, candytuft, boltonia, astilbe, tulips, iris, white yarrow, lilies, pearly everlasting, baby's breath

Red - maltese cross, daylilies, tulips, salvia, monarda (bee balm), cockscomb

Yellow - daylilies, coreopsis, rudbeckia, basket of gold, goldenrod, "moonshine" yarrow, sunflowers

Blue/purple - delphinium, globe thistle, iris, russian sage, purple coneflower, marjoram, purple basil, lavender.

Six garden designs covered all the bases in 1996, from a classic cutting garden to cottage garden and a cook's garden filled with herbs.

Throughout the years, the focus has been to encourage readers' own gardening imaginations to take root. Many of those designs have been useful in my own yard, particularly the long-season color garden.

This design incorporates ornamental grasses, such as Blue Oat Grass, Little Blue Stem grass "Blaze," blue switchgrass (panicum) "Heavy Metal" and Miscanthus sinesis "Morning Light," and favorites like Salvia plumosa with its deep, dark purple flowers, "Raspberry Wine" monarda, asters, "Marmalade" heuchera, coneflowers, globe thistle, Rudbeckia, helianthus and helinium and newer varieties of goldenrod.

The plan also calls for Russian sage. Prized for its airy foliage, light fragrance and cloud of small, soft lavender flowers, it grows to shrub-like sizes in some gardens.

Not mine. They just don't thrive, no matter the soil, location or size at the time of planting. Russian sage or perovskia is supposed to thrive in poor soil; maybe my soil is too rich.

Hope springs eternal, so I plan to keep trying.

Growing number of volunteers