Gardening: Planting season – and plant sale season – are upon us
Planting season is upon us! The nurseries are filling up and our local garden clubs and programs are gearing up for their annual plant sales. Here are the biggest ones in the Spokane area over the next two months.
• The Spokane County Master Gardener Foundation will hold its annual Garden Fair and Plant Sale on April 26-27 in the parking lot at the WSU Spokane County Extension Office, 222 N Havana St. The offerings for this year’s sale include a wide variety of native plants, vegetable starts, pollinator plants, berries, dahlias, herbs, houseplants, ornamental grasses and all the gardening advice you could want. The proceeds from the sale go to support the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program’s effort to provide community education and locally focused gardening knowledge in Spokane County. You will need to register for a shopping time at https://spokane.mastergardenerfoundation.org/garden-fair-plant-sale/. The link will go live April 23.
• On May 4-5, the Associated Garden Clubs of Spokane will hold their annual plant sale at the Manito greenhouses east of the Gaiser Conservatory. Check out a map at https://associatedgardenclubs.org/plant-sale/. This year’s sales will feature a wide range of perennials, annuals, pollinator plants, grasses and vegetable starts. Hours for the sale are 9 a.m. to 5p.m. May 4 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 5. Using funds raised through the sale, AGC contributes to school gardens, church community gardens, the YWCA therapeutic gardens, street plantings and public space beautification, and projects in the Manito Park Conservatory, the Japanese and Duncan gardens, and the trail for the blind at Finch Arboretum. “It’s sort of social service work through gardening!” says Jennifer Ogden, one of the sale organizers.
• The Inland Empire Gardeners will host their 23rd annual Garden Expo on May 11, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St., Spokane. This year’s theme is “Happy Everything!” which means there will be something for everybody including exotic specialty plants, one-of-a-kind garden art, garden accessories and décor, unique gifts, food options, door prizes and a lecture series. This year’s lecture series features Northwest garden guru Ciscoe Morris, the renowned o’lala gardener. Check out the list of vendors and the lecture series schedule at https://tieg.org/garden-expo-attend. Many of the vendors are local small nurseries and garden businesses that only come out for Garden Expo. The event is free.
• The spring garden sale season wraps up with the Friends of Manito Plant Sale on June 1 at Manito Park’s greenhouses east of the Gaiser Conservatory. Hours are 8 a.m.-3 p.m. This year’s sale features a wide range of perennials and shrubs, a complete list can be found at https://www.thefriendsofmanito.org/plant-sales. The list has detailed information on the plants’ growth characteristics and preferred growing conditions. Funds raised at this sale and TFM’s fall plant sale (which will be Aug. 24) go to support projects and programs in the Manito Park gardens that help make the park a special place to visit.