Don't Miss: Native Plant Center's 20th Anniversary Sale

The Native Plant Center’s 19th annual Native Plant Sale will offer a special this year in celebration of the Center’s 20th anniversary. Among the selections will be several of the 60 species used in its New American Cottage Garden.

The sale is Saturday, April 28, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Westchester Community College in Valhalla. Admission to the event is free.

“Come to the sale and take our garden home,” invites Carol Capobianco, Director of The Native Plant Center. “Replicate this wonderful new installation to beautify and benefit your own landscape. The mix of perennials, grasses, ferns, vines, shrubs, and trees attract wildlife—and people who find peace and a sense of place within the natural-design setting.”

Trees and shrubs in the new garden that will be for sale include river birch (Betula nigra), inkberry (Ilex glabra), and summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), which add structure to your setting.

The flowers of golden alexander (Zizia aurea), orange butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa), and purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) pop with color.

Other perennials such as wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), moss phlox (Phlox subulata), and wild pink (Silene caroliniana) serve as ideal groundcovers.

The adored trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) vine draws hummingbirds.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), purple lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis), and Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) bring year-round interest.

Also available will be some wet-loving plants found in our water feature, which are able to grow in moist garden soils such as marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) and blue flag iris (Iris versicolor).

Two of the species in the new garden were selected as The Native Plant Center’s “plants of the year” for 2018 and will be for sale on April 28. The Native Woody of the Year, blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium), is a deciduous shrub whose creamy white, fragrant flowers blanket the shrub in late spring. Blue-black berries persist into winter, attracting birds. The fruit is also edible by people and used to make preserves. Leaves turn reddish-purple in fall.

The star- shaped powder-blue flowers of Eastern bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana) brighten the spring garden and serve as a nectar source and host plant for several types of pollinators. In fall, the foliage turns a striking golden-yellow color.

In total, more than 100 plant species and varieties and more than 3,000 plants will be available, including other enduring favorites not easily found elsewhere. Native plant specialists will be on hand to answer questions and assist gardeners in choosing great options for their sites. Admission is free.

Members of The Native Plant Center can enter at 9:30 a.m.

The plant sale is located on Westchester Community College’s main campus at 75 Grasslands Road in Valhalla, New York. Sale attendees should enter the East Grasslands Entrance and park in Lot #1. Volunteers are needed to prepare for the sale and to assist on sale day itself. Those interested in volunteering, or those seeking further information about the sale, should visit online at nativeplantcenter.org, email wcc.nativeplant@sunywcc.org, or call 914- 606-7870.

Meanwhile, keep your calendar open for another event later this year as the new garden will be dedicated on June 3 at 3:00 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception, open to the public free of charge.

The Native Plant Center was established in 1998 as the first national affiliate of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. The Native Plant Center maintains demonstration gardens and educates the public about the environmental necessity, economic value, and natural beauty of native plants through conferences, field trips, and classes in its Go Native U continuing education program.

PHOTO/ Westchester Community College. Photo credit: Joseph Squillante