Spring Plant Sale Features Plants Grown with Love by Garden Volunteers

Shoppers selecting plants for their spring beds.

by Kristen Ablamsky, PR & Marketing Intern,  Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

It’s impossible to miss the smiles that quickly emerge when you mention the Spring Plant Sale at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Volunteers and staff are buzzing around the Garden preparing for next week’s sale and sharing stories from years past.

Volunteer, Jane Hartough, is in charge of plant propagation for the sale.  She and other volunteers have been nurturing these beauties for over 6 months.  In fact, we’ll have more plant for sale than ever before — 5,000 of them — in just the volunteers’ Bloemendaal tent alone!  For the first time we will be featuring some of the same annuals on display this summer in the Garden — many that are not available locally.

Lots of perennials too!  A few especially caught my eye —  Hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus) and the Mandevilla vine (Mandevilla splendens.)    The Cardinal Creeper (Ipomoea quamoclit)  is shown below – the photo fails to capture the beauty.

Volunteers are also planting a demonstration Butterfly Garden filled with nectar and host plants.

The Henrico Master Gardeners Association will have a booth to answer questions and provide gardening tips with advice on pest-free plants and shrubs, pruning techniques, and water-wise gardening techniques, as well as information about becoming a Master Gardener. On Saturday only the Junior Master Gardeners will provide hands-on activities for children.

More than 30 regional vendors will offer items for sale,  from plants — to garden implements — to unusual pots — to trees.

The Garden Shop will feature a 15 percent discount during plant sale hours for members only.

Don’t forget to BYOPCW (bring your own plant carryin’ wagon).

See you at the Spring Plant Sale!

Thursday, May 3 ,  1  p.m. – 6 p.m.

Friday, May 4, 9  a.m. – 5 p.m.

Saturday, May 5, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

No admission for Plant Sale; regular Garden admission to enter the Garden.

Jane Hartough points out some plants the volunteers have been growing since seedlings

Cardinal Climber: This annual blooms in early summer and has a fast growing vine.