Nova Scotia Plant Sales - 2013 Edition

Ok, my head is swimming! So many plant sales, so hard to keep track of when/where/who! I've started a list of the upcoming plant sales in the Halifax area and beyond.. and if you have any to add, please comment below.. I highly recommend checking out some of these sales - great varieties and great prices. An easy way to add new plants to your gardens and an opportunity to talk to some experienced gardeners who are happy to answer gardening questions!

Plant Sales:

UPDATE - Here's another one that has come in since yesterday.. and see the comments below as well.

2013 SPRING PLANT- SALE

AT "THE WILLOW GARDEN"

#407 Old Maryvale Road, Antigonish Co., NS
Saturday, May 18th & Sunday, May 19th, 10 AM - 4 PM 

Look for:  Perennials, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Shrubs, Peonies, herbaceous & Tree, Specialty Trees, Begonias, Flowering Dogwood

For INFO on the availability of specific plants contact us by e-mail: willowgarden_ns@hotmail.com

Happy Gardening from Bill & Sharon Wilgenhof

(Niki's Note - If you are in the area, you definitely will want to get to the Willow Garden sale.. seriously amazing gardeners with extensive knowledge and wonderful plants)

Native Plant Sale (Support pollinators!) - Saturday May 4th, 9 am to noon at the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens, 32 University Ave, Wolfville, NS. More details here.

Atlantic Rhododendron & Horticultural Society Annual Plant Sale - Saturday May 11, 1 to 3:30 pm at LeMarchant-St.Thomas School Gym at 6141 Watt St, Halifax. One week prior to the sale, a listing of the plants (many unique and rare!) will be listed on their website.

Dahlia Society of NS Annual Plant Sale - Saturday May 4th, 9 am to 3 pm or until sold out. At Micmac Mall, 21 Mic Mac Drive, Dartmouth, NS

Fall River Garden Club Plant Sale - Saturday May 25th, 9 to 5 pm at the Waverly Legion on Rocky Lake Road.

Rare and Unusual Plant Sale - Saturday May 11th, 1 to 4 pm, Farmers Market in Annapolis Royal, NS which is across from the wharf in downtown Annapolis Royal.

Halifax Westmoor Horticultural Society Annual Plant Sale - Saturday May 25, 9 am at St. John the Baptist Parish Hall, 26 Purcell's Cove Road (indoors!).

And more from the Nova Scotia Association of Garden Clubs website on plant sales:

May 11/2013, the Nicholsville Garden Club will be holding its annual plant sale and exchange in the Nicholsville Hall (413 Victoria Rd. Nicholsville, NS) from 09:30 a.m. till noon.

May 11/2013, the Great Village Garden Club will be holding a Giant Plant Sale at 10 a.m.at the Great Village School gymnasium.

May 11/2013, the Valley Gardeners will be holding a plant sale at the New Minas Fire hall on commercial st., New Minas.  

May 18/2013, the Wilmot Garden Club will be holding its annual plant sale at the cornner of Stronach Mountain Rd and Highway #1 in Wilmot, NS from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

May 18.2013. the Bedford Horticulture Society, will be holding its annual plant sale at  Scott Manor House, Bedford  10 am

May 23/2013, the North Sydney Garden Club, will be holding a plant sale at the Cape Breton Exhibition, Regent St, North Sydney at 6:30pm.

May 25/2013, the Bible Hill Garden Club will be holding a plant sale at the Bible Hill Fire Hall, 69 Pictou Road in Bible Hill from 8 a.m. till 12 p.m.

May 25/2013. the Musquodoboit Valley Weeders will be holding a plant sale at the Halifax County Exhibition grounds from 10 a.m. till noon.

May 25/2013. the Village Garden Clubs will be holding a plant sale at the Rawdon Gold Mines Community Hall from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

May 25/2013. the Country Garden Clubs will be holding a plant sale at the Elmsdale Fire Dept. from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

May 25/2013. the Stewiacke Valley Garden Club will be holding a plant sale at the Upper Stewiacke Fire Hall from 10 a.m. till noon.

May 25/2013. the Dartmouth Horticultural Society’s Annual Plant Sale will take place at St Peter’s Church Gymnasium, 5 Crichton Avenue Dartmouth, on Saturday May 25 at 9:30 am.  As this is a very popular event come early. 

May 25/2013. the Dartmouth Eastern Shore Annual Plant Sale will take place at the Lions Club, 89 Chezzetcook Rd. 10am till noon

June 01/2013, the Hilden Garden Club will be holding a plant sale at the Hilden Fire Hall from 8:30 a.m. till noon.

June 8/2013, the Stewiacke Garden Club will be having a plant sale at the Royal Canadian Legion, Stewiacke from 8-11 a.m.

June 15/2013, the Westmount Garden Club will be having a plant sale at 100 Parkwood Dr. Sydney River at 8:30am

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Sunday in the Garden

A few of the seeds I'm planting today.

Ok, this is going to be a super short post, but one that I will expand on soon.. It is gorgeous outside - sunny and 15 C in my backyard and I'm digging, weeding, seeding and sighing. So nice to be finally in the garden. I would take post photos of my progress, but the sun is so bright, the colours are very washed out, so I'll wait and take some more later in the afternoon when it's not so glaring. I hope you're getting out in your own garden today as there is plenty that can be planted now - salad greens, turnips, beets, peas, carrots, kale, kohlrabi, onion sets, etc.. I keep my row covers handy for those night when the temp dips, but for now, the extended forecast is mild and sunny.. 

Back to the garden.. just came in for a quick water break, but wanted to share these photos.. :)

A 3 by 4 foot bed of Rocky Top Lettuce Mix
from www.rareseeds.com It's a new mix for me
and I can't wait to start picking salads!

My latest blog post for Proven Winners

One of my favourite new container plants is
Superbells ^® Lemon Slice. It looks
good enough to eat! (but don't, not
edible!) :)

The long-awaited arrival of mild spring weather has given me 'garden brain'.. I can't think about much except all the plans I have for this year - new shrub/perennial beds, a deer-proof fence (is that even possible?!) and a pot-scaped deck with a mad tangle of annual flowers, herbs and veggies. I'm also keeping a sharp eye out for unused or old items that I can 'upcycle' into fun and functional garden pots.. read all about it in my latest blog post for Proven Winners - click here!

Also, tune in to Information Morning on CBC radio 90.5 FM tomorrow morning (Thurs, April 25th)) at 6:45 am to hear Part 1 of my chat with Margot Brunelle on growing seeds. Part 2 will air Friday at 6:45!

And one last reminder that you can still register for my FREE online seminar with Horticulture Magazine. It's tomorrow at 2 pm ET (3 pm Atlantic) and you can pre-register here.

A Peek Under My Grow-Lights

Ah it's spring.. and the space below my grow-lights is quickly filling up. Well, truth be told, it's already filled up and I have so much more I want to plant! The gardeners lament, eh? Book and magazine deadlines as well as work travel delayed my seeding (and blogging - sorry!), but I'm happy to say that I've caught up and I have flats of tomatoes, peppers, onions (my latest obsession) and assorted other seedlings happily growing in my basement. In fact, Margot Brunelle from CBC radio was here this morning poking around my seed lights and chatting about the pro's and con's of growing your own plants from seed. Tune in on Thurs and Friday of this week to CBC's Information Morning for my two segments!

I've got a lot of variety beneath my seed racks - about 2 dozen tomato varieties, 6 heirloom onion varieties, 6 cucumbers, 4 gourds, some herbs and flowers, and even quinoa! I bought my Cherry Vanilla quinoa seed from Baker Creek in the US, but they don't have a photo of the plants on their website, so I found this one if you're curious. I don't expect to actually get a huge quinoa harvest (or even a modest one) from my 2 dozen plants, but I am excited about how ornamental they are. Spectacular spires of cream and pink flowers.. Can't wait!

If you're in Halifax, join me tomorrow night at 7 pm at the Keshen Goodman Library in Clayton Park for my free talk on growing veggies and herbs in pots/pallets/and more! Plenty of easy ways to grow some of your own edible plants this year.

And, this Thursday at 3 pm ET (or 4 pm Atlantic time), you can join me for a fun and visual webinar at Horticulture Magazine on growing food year round. Space is limited to 1000 and you can sign up here!

Here's a sampling of what's under the lights..

Quinoa.. my first attempt.. The plants were spindly
at first (my fault), but have thickened up nicely.

Can't wait to follow the progress of the quinoa.
I may even try to grow some in containers.. anyone
tried that?

Some of my beloved tomatoes.. Sungold, Costoluto Genovese,
Persimmon and more! 

The low position of the light helps keep the plants compact and
well branched. 

Zaatar.. a staple in our house. I make manouchie (a Lebanese flatbread
spread with olive oil and spice) for breakfast at least 3 times a week. I grew
this about 5 or 6 years ago, but it was time again to grow some of our
own. The flavour is outstanding when compared to store-bought zaatar
spice mix.  See the tiny plants.. Potential!

Giant Kossak Kohlrabi from Halifax Seed.
 A new offering from our local seed company with huge stems
 - up to 8-inches in diameter and perfect for fresh eating, stir-fries
or whatever! The seedlings are nice and stocky and I'm going to replant again
in early July for an autumn/winter crop.

Zinnias! C'mon, who doesn't love old fashioned annuals.
Last summer our garden welcomed dozens of Red Admiral
butterflies on a daily basis and they loved our zinnias. 

Purple kohlrabi - a smaller version than Kossak and a family
favourite. Quick growing too - ready in about 4 weeks from
transplanting.

The Spring Ideal Home Show - Seminar Schedule

It's HOME SHOW weekend!

JOIN GUEST SPEAKER NIKI JABBOUR WHILE SHE DISCUSSES:

No Garden? No Problem! - A dynamic and inspiring talk on how to grow vegetables and herbs without an in-ground garden. From pots to pallets, window boxes to wine boxes and hanging baskets to salad tables, Niki will offer a wide range of fun and easy ideas on how to add more homegrown food to your landscape.

Fruits, Berries and Beyond! -  In this visual presentation, Niki will profile some of her favourite fruits and berries for the home garden, focusing on low maintenance and easy to grow crops like highbush blueberries, haskap berries, strawberries and raspberries.

Seminar Times

Friday 7:00pm - “No Garden? No Problem!”

Saturday 1:00pm - “Fruits, Berries and Beyond!”

Saturday 3:00pm - “No Garden? No Problem!”

Sunday 12:00pm - “Fruits, Berries and Beyond!”

Big G winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway. The winner of the prize pack including a $10 Target gift card, cereal and retro board game is . . .



JC


Congratulations! Email me at felicehalf [at] yahoo [dot] com with your mailing address so you can get your prize pack!

Enjoy the rest of the week, everyone!



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