Find Out What Treasures We'll Have at the Fall Plant Sale!
by Jonah Holland, PR & Marketing Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
Begonia grandis ‘Alba’
It’s that time of year that I look forward to every year — our annual Fall Plant Sale is next week, September 20 – 21st. The Fall Plant sale is great opportunity to get some wonderful bargains. But what’s really special is you can buy plants that are directly from the Garden’s beds. Volunteers & horticulturists work together to dig “volunteers” or subdivide plants that need more room, and those treasures often end up at our plant sale. Both the Spring Plant Sale and the Fall Plant Sale are run by Garden volunteers, with the help of a few key Garden staff. And all proceeds of the sale, go directly to supporting the Garden’s educational mission. Plus, we’ll have many specialty vendors! Be sure to visit our website to see the complete list often, these vendors sell plants you can’t easily find elsewhere. As always we’ll have plenty of volunteers on hand to help choose the right plant for the right area.
Also this year, we have a huge selection of really nice house plants, some even seedlings and cuttings from those in the Conservatory. We’ve chosen house plants like the peace lily that are very easy to care for.
This year’s Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Souvenir Plant is a hardy begonia — Begonia grandis ‘Alba’. These specimens are volunteers or seedlings taken from the beds of beautiful hardy begonia ‘Alba’ growing in the Flagler Garden. Begonia, like many perennials, do best when they are thinned to avoid overcrowding. ‘Alba’ is unusual because of the striking white color.
Acalypha wilkesiana or copper leaf
Here’s a partial list of plants for sale in the Bloemendaal Tent.
Hydrangea petiolaris; Climbing Hydrangea
Athyrium nipponicum var. pictum Japanese Painted Fern*
Anthurium sp. Anthurium#
Anemone x ; Fall Anemone
Spathiphyllum ‘Domino’ Peace Lily#
Iris siberica ‘Steve’ Siberian Iris*
Acalypha wilkesiana Copper Leaf
Carex buchanii ‘Red Rooster’™ Leatherleaf Sedge
Polystichum acrostichoides Christmas Fern
Polystichum polyblepharum Tassel Fern
Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Autumn Sun’ Cutleaf Coneflower
Ficus ‘Breeze’ Ficus#
Hemerocallis ‘Beauty to Behold’ Daylily*
Codiaeum variegatum ‘Revolutions’ Croton#
Symphyotrichum novi-belgii New York Aster*
Purple love grass
Epimedium x versicolor Bishop’s Hat
Stapelia grandiflora Starfish Flower#
Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’ Variegated Solomon’s Seal (the 2013 Perennial Plant of the Year)
Spathiphyllum ‘Alpha’ Peace Lily#
Pachysandra terminalis Japanese Pachysandra
Spathiphyllum ‘Jetty Junior’ Peace Lily#
Amsonia tabernaemontana var. salicifolia Blue Star
Boltonia asteroides ‘Pink Beauty’ False Aster or Pink Boltonia
Eragrostis spectablis Purple Love Grass
Helenium flexuosum ‘Tiny Dancer’ Sneezeweed
Hemerocallis Daylily
Lobelia cardinalis ‘Black Truffle’ PP Cardinal Flower
Sedum telephium ‘Matrona’ Stonecrop
Symphyotrichon novae-angliae ‘Vibrant Dome’ New England Aster
Tricyrtis formosana; ‘Samurai’ toad lily
Vernonia glauca Upland Ironweed
Buxus sinica var. insularis ‘Justin Brouwers’ Justin Brouwers Boxwood*
Achillea millefolium ‘Strawberry Seduction’ PP Yarrow
Agastache x ‘Black Adder’ Giant Hyssop
Asclepias tuberosa Butterfly Weed
Coreopsis verticillata ‘Sienna Sunset’ Threadleaf Coreopsis
Echinacea x ‘Pixie Meadowbrite’™ Coneflower
Heuchera villosa ‘Citronelle’ Hairy Alumroot
Hypericum caylcinum ‘Brigadoon’ St. John’s Wort
Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Filigran’ Russian Sage
Sedum x ‘Cherry Tart’ PP Stonecrop
Sedum; x ‘Dazzleberry’ PP Stonecrop
* Self-seeded volunteer from Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s beds
# From the Conservatory at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
Sedum; x ‘Cherry Tart’ PP stonecrop
Debbe Peck, Garden Volunteer (and retired Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden employee) says there are so many great perennials — many of them in bloom right now, that you could make a complete shade or sun perennial garden with just the plants from Bloemendaal Tent.
“You could just take a handful of these plants and create a great perennial garden that will attract birds and pollinators and many of them are natives. I went to look at the plants last week and I was wowed. There’s so much color!” She offers these suggestions for pairing for a sunny perennial bed:
Rudbeckia laciniata; ‘Autumn Sun’ cutleaf coneflower
Symphyotrichum novi-belgii; New York aster
Helenium flexuosum; ‘Tiny Dancer’ sneezeweed
Sneezeweed
Achillea millefolium; ‘Strawberry Seduction’ PP yarrow
Echinacea; x ‘Pixie Meadowbrite’™ coneflower
And for a shade perennial bed she would combine:
Begonia grandis ‘Alba’
Polystichum acrostichoides; Christmas fern
Polystichum polyblepharum; tassel fern
Polygonatum odoratum; ‘Variegatum’ variegated Solomon’s seal
Tricyrtis formosana; ‘Samurai’ toad lily
Also at the Fall Plant Sale, the Henrico Master Gardeners Association will be offering demonstrations on vermicomposting, fall container gardening, fairy gardening and more. The Junior Master Gardener Committee will be there on Saturday to provide hands-on learning fun for youth who come to the sale.
Photo credits:
Purple love grass: http://www.burpee.com/perennials/ornamental-grass/eragrostis-purple-love-grass-prod000082.html
Black Truffle: http://www.waysidegardens.com/black-truffle-cardinal-flower/p/47967/
Toad Lily: http://allthingsplants.com/plants/photo/170528/
Sedum: http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/search.php?query=sedum&view_all=1