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Spring Plant Sales Offer Distinctive Choices for Gardeners

By Judy Thompson

I once attended a local herb festival where we walked through a quiet wooded area with herb-covered tables set out among the trees. But at one table there was a loud buzz of activity. All around the table people were leaning in, two-deep, grabbing small pots by the fistful. Without hesitation I plunged my hand into the frenzy and, after some friendly but earnest elbowing, grabbed one of the last tagless plants. As I paid for my find, I sheepishly asked the seller, “What is this?” Such is the nature of spring plant sales. It has been a long winter of reading magazines and catalogs. What we gardeners need now is the real thing—our hands on new plants for our gardens. It is time to plant!

To satisfy your plant lust you can shop at three wonderful local spring sales. Each offers outstanding plants, not readily available elsewhere, at very reasonable prices. Knowledgeable volunteers are on hand to answer questions and give advice. And the sales are fun.

Historic London Town and Gardens Spring Plant Sale

While the 28th Annual Daffodil Show taking place on April 11–12 focuses on named flower, the annual spring sale later in the month concentrates on perennials and heirloom vegetables, but also offers many shade-loving woodland species and rarely offered shrubs and trees, such as special magnolias and hydrangeas. Cathy Umphrey, London Town’s director of horticulture, says, “We carry some gorgeous peonies, herbaceous as well as tree, to enable you to have a spring display as sumptuous as our own.” What a tempting invitation to imitate success!

Last year the featured perennials included new echinaceas, hardy cyclamen, and many phloxes. For shady areas look for new and interesting hostas, the native Heuchera villosa, and Ackerman’s spring-flowering camellias. For vegetables shop the long list of heirloom tomatoes and peppers, such as Tomato ‘Brandywine, Sudduth’s Strain’ and Pepper ‘Trinidad Perfume.’ Just the names make them worth buying. A plant list will be distributed just before the sale begins.

Michele Fain, who has shopped the sale for many years, calls it, “small but mighty! The perennials are of terrific quality; amazing potions must have been used to propagate the plants, because they flourish incredibly well. The prices for shrubs and trees allow me to buy more than I could elsewhere, and these are not little bitty trees and shrubs; they are truly an excellent selection and value.”

Umphrey adds, “The sale also promotes the exchange of horticultural information and enthusiasm in the community. The funds raised help support programs for maintaining and improving the woodland garden, the ornamental garden, and the historic gardens, as well as Anne Arundel County Master Gardener programs.”

While you are there, be sure to stroll through the eight-acre woodland garden, with its flowering azaleas, magnolias, and peonies and stunning views of the South River.

William Paca Garden Plant Sale

Staged within the walls of a two-acre downtown oasis, the sale is traditionally held on Mother’s Day weekend. According to Mollie Ridout, the director of horticulture, Saturday tends to draw “the pretty intense gardeners who often come with lists” while Sunday is “when families bring their mothers to shop and walk through the garden.”

One of the intense gardeners is Katherine Hax: “The plant sale is great! It helps support the Paca House Garden. It offers incredible plants, and the prices are terrific. It has definitely influenced what local gardeners grow.”

For the sale volunteers grow natives, new introductions, and heirloom plants known to William Paca. Look for unusual annuals like the snail flower vine, perennials such as native orchid and trillium, small specimens of shrubs and woody plants, and heirloom and trendy vegetables and herbs. Many of these are grown by volunteers like Madeleine Tierney: “The volunteers look forward to the sale all year long. They start plants from seeds, by division, and from plugs for special plants like trillium and Spigelia marilandica. The seeds and plants come from local gardens and from the Paca Garden heritage plants, but we also offer new introductions such as Baptisia ‘Screaming Yellow.’ We grow lots of aquilegia and primula.”

Ridout promises that they “offer plants that people will be excited about.” A plant sale catalogue will be available at the Museum Store at 77 Main Street a week before the event and at the sale. It will list botanical and common names, plant descriptions, cultural information, and special properties, such as deer-resistance. Hax says the catalogue offers “a wealth of information. So on Saturday, while I stand in line, I make a list. Then I buy the plants, take them home, and come back for more. It’s a lot of fun!” Over the last few years she has been especially excited to purchase passionflower and a pomegranate tree.

After shopping seek out the flowering fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) near the Summer House in the beautiful reconstructed garden. Admission is free on sale days.

Annapolis Horticulture Society Annual Plant Sale

The Annapolis Horticulture Society (AHS) sale offers only plants its members grow and like. As a member myself I can verify that the plants sold by the AHS are well adapted to our growing conditions. My garden is full of them. Members propagate plants by division or cuttings or grow uncommon plants from seed. Tubers of iris and canna are offered in bundles. AHS President George Lambert calls the sale “a bonding opportunity for the membership that provides a major source of income for our educational program.”

Veteran sale organizer Tish Iorio sees the sale as a “really important part of what the society does. Our mission is to share information about horticulture. The sale lets people know that AHS is an ardent group of gardeners who are ready to help them with gardening.” Because the sale takes place at the Anne Arundel County Farmers’ Market the customers are varied, “with our early arrivers looking for specific plants and later on young couples who live in new houses and don’t know quite what they want. Men often stop to describe to us a difficult growing situation. Society members are there to guide them to the right plants.”

Last year’s emphasis was on ground covers of all sorts. But also available were Japanese red maples, sweet shrub, hellebores, container plants, natives, tropicals, heirloom vegetables, and culinary herbs. Plant Committee Chair Debi Mallonee says, “The sale is a lot of fun, and because the focus of the society is to share information about horticulture, every plant is labeled with the common and botanical name and cultural information. Many pictures are provided as well.” AHS member Terry Galloway sums it up well: “If you want plants that have been carefully selected, lovingly grown, and perfectly suited to our climate and its demands, look no further than the AHS plant sale. I buy there every year.”

After plant shopping, be sure to pick up some local produce, baked goods, and flowers from the other market merchants.

By the way, that plant I bought at the festival was a purple passionflower vine (Passiflora incarnata), a rare find at the time and well worth the wrestle. May you find your own treasures at these unique sales.

If You Go

What: London Town & Gardens 28th Annual Daffodil Show
When: Friday, April 11 through Saturday, April 12
Where: 839 Londontown Rd., Edgewater.
More information: (410) 222-1919, www.historiclondontown.com

What: London Town & Gardens Spring Plant Sale
When: Saturday, April 26, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
Where: 839 Londontown Rd., Edgewater.
More information: (410) 222-1919, www.historiclondontown.com

What: Paca Gardens Plant Sale
When: Saturday, May 10, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., and Sunday, May 11, 12–4 p.m.
Where: 186 Prince George St., Annapolis. Enter the garden grounds at 1 Martin. St.
More information: (410) 267-7619, www.annapolis.org

What: The Annapolis Horticulture Society’s Annual Plant Sale
When: Saturday, May 17, 7 a.m.–12 noon
Where: Anne Arundel County Farmers’ Market, Riva Road and Harry S Truman Parkway
More information: Whats Up online calendar