Master Gardener plant sale April 25-28

Germination sensation! Note to self — spread Cardinal Flower seeds more finely next year.

by Betty Struckhoff

Spring is here, and many of you may be itching to add more native plants to your yard. Of course, the wonderful Shaw Nature Reserve plant sale on Mother’s Day weekend is already on your calendar. But if you want plants before then, come to the Master Gardener plant sale.

The sale will start Friday, April 25 at 3 p.m. and the final opportunity to buy will be Monday, April 28 before 6 p.m. For details on hours and location, visit the Master Gardener website.

Along with lots of tropical plants, annuals and vegetables the sale will include a wide selection of native plants, many of them propagated from seed collected at the St. Louis Museum of Transportation. They include Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower), Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Milkweed), Ratibida pinnata (Gray-headed Coneflower), Heuchera richardsonii (Alumroot), Solidago speciosa (Showy Goldenrod), New England Aster and many more.

…but they can be separated.

In keeping with the Wild for Monarchs program, the sale will have a selection of other milkweeds as well as fall nectar plants for Monarchs.

Many of our St. Louis Master Gardeners do not realize how important native plants are to our environment. This is an opportunity to show Master Gardeners that lots of us are interested in them. So mark your calendars, and I hope to see you there!