How Many Bulbs Does It Take to Make a Plant Sale?

Volunteers preparing for last year’s fall plant sale. Photo by Lisa Blackburn.

With fall fast approaching, work is under way to get the 2012 Fall Plant Sale ready to go, so be sure to put us on your calendar. The sale takes place Friday, Oct. 12, through Sunday, Oct. 14. Friday’s hours will be noon to 4:30 p.m.; on Saturday and Sunday, the sale will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

It might be hard to believe it now, but nights will be getting cooler and longer. Those cooler temperatures mean less stress on the plants during the planting process. And the chance for rain also increases in the fall—though we hope the weather people are kind to us during the sale weekend.

Plants on hand will include the fall-blooming Plectranthus ciliatus. Photo by Lisa Blackburn.

This year, we will be featuring a large selection of bulbs and rhizomes. As Mary McBride noted in one of our recent Second Thursday Garden Lectures, bulbs add extra color to the garden in any season. We hope that there will be interest for our friends wanting to try something they might not have thought of previously. We'll have daffodils and narcissus plants that do well in Southern California, as well as several types of Zephyranthes (rain lilies), lots of different iris, including rebloomers, and some of the more unusual items (such as succulent bulbous plants from the Cactus and Succulent nursery). We also hope to have some Crocus sativus (saffron crocus) for our adventurous cooks who like a challenging harvest. We'll also have some colorful plants: Phormium “Guardian,” Plectranthus ciliatus, Canna “Montana,” and lots of shade-loving, and less thirsty, Ajuga.

We'll have lots of Pelargonia and a choice selection of tropical material. As always, there will be staff members and volunteers who are friendly and helpful.

Anyone interested in volunteering should get in touch with our Plant Sale office (by leaving a message at 626-405-3571 or sending an e-mail to plantsales@huntington.org). We hope everyone there will find something unexpected and wonderful. I hope to see you there.

Louise Guerin is manager of plant production and sales.