Archive 2008 - 2019

Buy Local for Your Garden

by Jana Milbocker
5/8/2013

May is the month of “spring fever”, with plants for sale at every conceivable location from grocery to hardware store. It’s impossible to resist a six-pack of blooming pansies or a billowy hydrangea, and I have been known to buy plants wherever I go, whether it’s a quick trip to the grocery store or a vacation in Seattle.

However, years of gardening have taught me that the plants that do best in my garden are grown close to home. Commercially produced plants are propagated and grown in highly controlled conditions, in greenhouses hundreds of miles away, and forced for early bloom. When you prepare to plant them, they are often pot-bound, with roots compacted in a soilless mix that dries out quickly and is difficult to rehydrate. I have had the best success with perennials, trees and shrubs that are grown locally in a climate and soil that is similar to my own. These plants are generally hardy, reliable, and quickly adjust to their new home in my garden.

Community plant sales, organized by garden clubs and horticultural organizations, offer local plants at bargain prices. Most of these are scheduled for this month, including:

Holliston Garden Club, Saturday, May 18, 9:00 – 12:00, Congregational Church Green, Holliston, www.hollistongardenclub.org

Ashland Garden Club, Saturday, May 11, 9:00 – 12:00, Montenegro Square, Ashland, www.ashlandgardenclub.org

Hopkinton Garden Club, Saturday, May 18, 8:00 – 11:00 am, Hopkinton Town Common, www.hopkintongardenclub.org

Framingham Garden Club, Saturday, May 18, 9:00 – 12:00, Cushing Park, Winter Street, Framingham, www.framinghamgardenclub.com.

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society is hosting its annual Gardeners’ Fair and Plant Sales on Sunday, May 19 from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm at Elm Bank in Wellesley. The “Society Row Sale” features plants sold by fifteen local plant society chapters including the Daylily, Hosta, Conifer, Rose, Herb, Lilac and Cactus societies. Dozens of heirloom and hybrid tomato varieties will also be available for purchase from White Flower Farm. www.masshort.org.

Worcester Hort’s annual plant sale at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston features perennials, tree and shrubs from specialty nurseries and the Garden’s own collections. This year’s sale is on Saturday, June 1, 11:00 am - 2:00 pm, www.towerhillbg.org.

Gardeners looking to enhance their shade or rock gardens should visit the renowned Blanchette Gardens in Carlisle, MA. After 32 years in the business, this family-run nursery of rare and unusual plants is closing and selling off its inventory. The owners were collectors of hostas, astilbes, epimediums, Solomon’s Seals, and many other perennials, and propagated and grew their plants on the premises, ensuring hardiness and adaptation to our soil and climate. See www.blanchettegardens.com for more information.

Native plants can also be found at New England Wildflower Society’s Garden in the Woods in Framingham, which offers the largest selection of native trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, ferns, and perennials in New England. Garden in the Woods is open daily, and plants are available for sale throughout the season.www.newfs.org

 Jana Milbocker is a past president of the Holliston Garden Club and owner of Enchanted Gardens, a garden and landscape design firm in Holliston, MA, www.enchantedgardensdesign.com.