Our Annual Plant Sale is This Weekend!

I'm heavily involved with Roselands Horticultural Society, so when it's time for our annual plant sale, that means a whole lot of digging, dividing, potting, labeling, and lugging. Which is what I've been doing for the past three weeks.

The weather around here has been pretty miserable--cold and wet, or just wet--so it hasn't exactly been conducive to all of the above activities. I've spent about 6 hours last weekend locked away in the garage (it was slightly warmer out of the wind, and definitely drier than outside!) with all my plants, some packing tape, and a whole bunch of printed plant descriptions, ensuring that even new gardeners would have some idea of what plant they were buying and whether it was appropriate for the site they had in mind.

I expect that many of our Society's other members were engaged in similar activities on the weekend (we're a wild and crazy bunch, I tell you!)

Several years before I joined Roselands I discovered hort society plant sales and I was hooked--where else can you buy a couple full boxes of interesting perennials for $20 or $30? As a new homeowner with a lot of garden to plant (well, after I ripped out all the grass,) I certainly made the rounds of several society's sales!

And now that I have an established garden there are lots of things that can be divided up and shared. Here's some of what I potted up for this year:

Lamium, Hens & Chicks, and on the top right, you can see the stems of some Ostrich Ferns.

 

 

 

A tray of Clematis 'Radar Love' that I grew from seed (I think they're kind of cute, all tied to their little skewers), and more lamium (it's always popular so I potted up LOTS of it)

Now providing they survive until Saturday (and the way the temperature dipped today I'm not sure what's going to happen), I'm planning to have some Ground Cherries (physalis) at the sale. 

Hiding in the cold frame, are my 'Mortgage Lifter' tomatoes. If I was a tomato today I'd be hiding in there too--and saying shut the door, it's cold out there! Again, providing they survive, some of these will be at the sale.

I've potted up a Slender Deutzia and three of her little offspring--it's the same plant (just growing in a different spot) as the white flowered beauty you see above. Note that this picture was taken at this time last year; this year there are just little buds on the deutzia and other things aren't nearly as far along.

So that's some of what I'm contributing.  Last year we had about 10 tables of perennials:

That's a LOT of perennials..

And then we have trays and trays of commercially grown annuals, vegetables, and herbs...

So, if you're in the Toronto area this weekend here are the details:


Roselands Horitcultural Society Plant Sale
Saturday, May 21, 2011
9 am until noon (arrive at 9:00 for best selection. There won't be anything left by noon, and probably not much interesting by 10:00)
Northwest quadrant of Eglinton Flats Park (west of Jane, turn on Emmett Avenue, from Eglinton. Just google "Eglinton Flats Park" and the red marker will be almost where we are).

There will be yellow signs on Eglinton directing you in to the sale. It's rain or shine (and I'm praying for shine!). Cash sales only.


The Mount Dennis Social Club will have a BBQ breakfast available for purchase on site and the Emmett Avenue Community Garden (located a few steps away from the plant sale) will be having their kick-off.

Hope you can join us!