Locust Grove Nature Center to sell Native Plants

Locust Grove Nature Center is offering a wide variety of native plants this spring.

To see what they have to offer, stop by any of the county nature centers for a list or email geri.drymalski@mncppc.org and ask for a complete list. Geri will be organizing the sale.

To purchase you MUST PREORDER by April 26 with a full payment. Plants will be delivered to Locust Grove, which is located at 7777 Democracy Boulevard in Bethesda, Maryland, on April 30.

Native Plant Sale in Baltimore

The Herring Run Nursery up in Baltimore will host two more plant sales this fall on October 9 & 24.

I love this organization because they are doing great things with native plants in a very urban area of Baltimore, my hometown. Although it is a bit of a drive from DC, it is worth it when you consider that your plant purchases help a great local non-profit.

Their nursery has a sizable selection of native trees, shrubs, and vines and a limited selection of native perennials. Sale times are 12:00-4:00 PM for both dates. (For an up-to-date plant list you can visit their website or call 410-254-1577 ext 104.)

Let the Shopping Begin: Native Plant Sale Season Opens

This is likely to be the first of many such notices for the next couple of months. With fall being the best time to plant, everyone seems to be hosting plant sales.

Among them all, the one at Irvine is my favorite, though. Partly this is because I used to work there and actually at one point had to organize this event. But mostly it is because I really love the vendors that turn out at this sale. All top quality people with top quality plants and loads of great garden info to offer.

Irvine is just up the road aways, north of Baltimore. One bonus to going to this sale and seminar: you'll have a chance to see their new green building! Don't forget to bring a check book, since most vendors do not accept credit cards!

Note that if you pay to attend the Irvine Native Plant Seminar, you can get into the sale earlier.

Irvine Native Plant Sale

Saturday August 21, 2010

9am - 4pm

for more info you can also call: 443-738-9200

Native Plant Sale in York, PA

This one's a bit far afield, but sometimes those roadtrips can be fun:

Spring Native Plant Fest & Sale

MAEscapes

Saturday, May 15, 2010

9am till 2pm

Includes vendors such as Doyle Farm, Heartwood, Kollar, Natural Landscapes and Spring Haven Nurseries.

Also, Catherine Zimmerman, author of Urban & Suburban Meadows will be there. Sounds pretty cool.

Native Plant Sale in Takoma Park this Saturday

I've been told that there will be a native plant sale this weekend in Takoma Park.

What: Native Plant Sale When: April 17, 2010

Rain Date: April 24, 2010

Where: 7125 Willow Ave. Takoma Park, MD 20912

Time: 1 pm - 4 pm

Sounds fun!

Irvine Native Plant Sale on Aug 29

Fall is the best time to plant, and Irvine Natural Science Center in Baltimore makes it easy to go native by offering one of the best native plant sales of the season during the last weekend of August.

A dozen great nurseries will participate this year. Some of them are not generally open to the retail public the rest of the year, so it is worth the trek up 95 and across 695 (the Baltimore Beltway) to get there and do some shopping. Don't worry, as driving goes it is a pretty straight shot and relatively easy from the DC area.

The sale takes place on August 29 from 9-4. For more information you can visit their website at http://www.explorenature.org/ or by calling 443-738-9200.

Parkfairfax Native Plant sale is worth the wretched drive

Today, after pulling invasive plants for an hour in the Sligo Creek as a part of the great Garlic Mustard challenge, I headed off to Northern Virginia in search of Parkfairfax, where I had been told I'd find some of the best native plant vendors in the region, gathered together for a big plant sale.

Here's what's funny: Parkfairfax isn't a park, and it isn't in Fairfax. Its actually in Alexandria. And its a forties style housing development, with condos, townhomes, etc. Its full of trees and very pretty.

But, ah, Northern Virigina. Land of a million confusing place names and twisty roads which allow no return back to the correct highway, back to the place where you MEANT to turn... oh, wait, that WAS my exit.... no wait, that will take me to Mt. Vernon... wait, I think THAT was my turn, aw hell.... I need some gas I'm almost on empty....and hey, Guy Driving Behind Me in a Hummer, will you please stop tailgating? I'm already doing 70 and I have no idea if I need to turn on these roads coming up....

Covered in sweat from the GM pull, and horrified by the number of turns I had to make to remain on 395 before even getting close to my destination, I began to wonder if it was worth the trip.

But then, I arrived to find some of my favorite vendors, including some like Jim Plyler, who normally only sale wholesale, and Enchanter's Garden from Hinton, West Virginia, which always has these huge pots filled with my favorite native perennials. Oh, and did I mention Green and Sticky, the retail arm of American Native Plants in Baltimore? There I was able to secure two of the biggest, loveliest Blackhaw Viburnums I have ever seen for a very reasonable price. Wahoo, it was wonderful. I happily found almost everything my current clients have been looking for, plus some stuff for my own little garden.

I also had the chance to chat wit the sale's organizer, Scott Knudsen. Scot is somewhat semi-famous for his efforts to both attract vendors to this fancy little housing development, and also for being a part of the big effort to remove invasive plants from the Parkfairfax greenspaces.

So, if you are willing to brave the terror that is a Saturday drive from Montgomery County, Maryland to the heart of Alexandria once or twice a year, it is worth the trip! Send Scott an email (Sknudsen at earthlink dot net) and he'll happily put you on his email notification list.

Just be sure to pack loads of water, some snacks and a few good maps that depict what the heck you should do if you find on the return trip that 395 is a parking lot due to construction traffic and protestors shutting down streets in DC. Otherwise, prepare to suffer. Or see a lot of angles on the Pentagon, again, and again, and again.....

Another Way to Buy Native Plants This Spring

American Native Plants, a wholesale only nursery, recently announced that it will be open to the public for retail sales on Sunday April 5th from 9am-3pm.

The nursery carries about 200 species of only native plants. The vast majority of plants are woody plants: trees and shrubs and some vines, however there are a few groundcovers, ferns, perennials, and wetland plants (in the hoophouse) as well. They do not carry cultivars except for a few species which are diocious and readily available, such as Winterberry. Unfortunately for the Inkberry and Spicebush, you must visit the nursery during bloomtime to tell the difference and take your chances, just like nature.

The nursery is located at 4812 E. Joppa Road, Perry Hall, Md 21228 From I-95 northbound past baltimore, take exit 67B. Turn right at the first light on Honeygo Blvd. Turn left at the fourth light onto Joppa Road. The nursery is 1/4 mile on right up a gravel road. Look for the large green pyramid with the tree emblem. Drive up the road to the top of the hill to park and for office.
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> For a catalog of normal availability go to:
www.greenandsticky.com/catalog.html

(This message originally appeared on the Native Plants East listserv.)