Plant Sales in the Merry Month of May

All this reading and writing about garden design reminds me that there are many wonderful plant sales during the early part of May.  There's probably one happening near you this weekend, including...

the Spring Plant Sale at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, here in Virginia;
Garden Festival at Ladew, Ladew Topiary Gardens in nearby Maryland;
Plant and Garden Sale at Van Vleck House and Gardens in Montclair, New Jersey;
the Weird Plant Sale at the Tucson Botanical Garden;
as part of Grow! A Garden Festival at The Arboretum - L.A. County Arboretum and Botanic Garden;
the Spring Sale at Humboldt Botanical Garden in Eureka, California (it will be held May 5 and May 12);
Kumamoto En Fest and Plant Sale at the San Antonio Botanical Garden;
and perhaps the most popular of all...
the 45th Annual Spring Sale at the San Francisco Botanical Garden.

The sale at Lewis Ginter takes over much of the parking lot
immediately surrounding the visitor's center.
Red wagons and helpful volunteers are on hand to transport, guard and load your purchases.

And next week, there are special plant sales at ...
Norfolk Botanical Garden in the Tidewater region of Virginia;
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida, as part of their Artists in Bloom Exhibition;
Denver Botanic Gardens;
Sante Fe Botanical Garden;
Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, Massachusetts (this is their 35th annual sale!);
and Texas Discovery Gardens at Fair Park in Dallas.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, the University of Washington Botanic Gardens maintains an excellent online calendar that lists regional gardening events and plant sales.

All of these seasonal sales attract smaller, specialty growers who can provide a wealth of information about their plants.  And usually a portion of sales, admission cost and/or vendor fees help support the institution hosting the sale.

So, spend a little time in the garden and a little time at one of these plant sales this weekend!  You are sure to learn something new.