You can buy flowers, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and even trees at a plant sale on Saturday in Harrisonburg. And you can benefit local students at the same time.

The Central Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener’s Association offers two $2,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors every year, one for an Augusta County student and one for a Rockingham County student.

The scholarships are awarded to students who plan to pursue a degree in landscaping, botany, horticulture, forestry, or anything relating to “the growing and use of plants,” according to Keala Timko, the organization’s volunteer coordinator.

The scholarships are funded by two plant sales, one in the fall and one in the spring. The upcoming one will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the county’s administrative building. 4-H club members, fundraising for a scholarship of their own, will sell food and coffee at the plant sale, and food trucks will be there too.

“We have a large variety [of plants], mostly perennials,” Timko said. “There’s over 700 plants for sale.”

The spring plant sale is always held the Saturday before Mother’s Day. The association has a list of available plants on its website. Most of the plants are native to the eastern USA. Varieties include blackberry, bell pepper, chives, garden phlox, Maryland aster and flowering dogwood.

The CSVMGA also plans to start another scholarship for non-traditional students interested in the horticulture field.

Timko said that the association has already chosen the students who will receive the two scholarships. Applications were due on March 31, and the winners were notified in mid-April. Schools are usually sent information about the scholarship in November, so next year’s seniors can begin applying this fall.

The CSVMGA serves Rockingham County and Augusta County and is part of the Virginia Cooperative Extension. When not raising money for scholarships, the organization also teaches classes and workshops on gardening and hosts a helpline for gardening-related questions.