Hello Gardening Friends:
Despite a snowy day and freezing temps I’m thinking about all that is stirring underneath. I’m taking advantage of this snow day to get the information out to you about this year’s Backyard Plant Sale.
This is a sale I hold in my back yard each year. The plants are donated by interested people like you and mostly come from our own gardens (though usually Lewis Ginter supplies a nice selection of bulbs and other plants). Proceeds from the sale benefit The Nature Conservancy in Virginia. I will begin collecting plants the weekend before the sale and up to the sale.
The dates this year will be: Friday, April 29 from 4:00 pm – dark and Saturday, April 30 from 9am – 1pm
The location is my backyard at 203 Howard Street in Ashland.
The preview for donors will be in the new format of last year from 3:00-4:00 pm on Friday. At this time, donors may purchase up to the number of plants donated by that person. So the more plants you donate, the more purchasing power you have. I hope you will note this is not a swap but a sale to raise money for a good cause. Hang around until 4:00 and the sale is open to everyone for unlimited purchases!
Saturday at 1:00, the sale will be closed and there will be a relevant educational talk given in front of my house. Saturday at 1:20, all leftover plants are given to any plant donor in any quantity. This part of the event has become very popular to the donors and there are always lots of great plants available.
If you have plants to donate, you can leave them on my front porch any time during the week or so before the sale (please leave your name so I know who donated what). If you can label them with their plant names or leave me a list, that’s great. No invasive alien plants will be sold (see attached invasive species list: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/nh-invasive-plant-list-2014.pdf – it may surprise you!) and we LOVE to see Virginia native plants at the sale.
I hope to see you at the sale. The plant sale has also has a facebook page called “Annual Backyard Plant Sale”.
Thank you!
Julie Ericksen