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Georgia Gardener

GNPS Native Plant Sale Saturday, April 21st

17 years ago

Ok, I am sure of this date! Which is why it is so strange that I thought Earth Day was Saturday ... !

Anyway, this is our usual HUGE event. Once a year the Georgia Native Plant Society collects member and nursery donations of native plants. From the small to the tall, there will be a lot. Some things are hard to find (like trilliums) and some things are things you might already have and want more of (ferns!). Perennials, shrubs, trees - it's all there. To help you find the right things, perennials are divided into sun and shade categories, and there will be plenty of people to answer your questions and give you suggestions.

Come early, bring a wagon and enjoy what is currently forecast to be a beautiful day (sunny and 76 degrees). You can find me in the Hold area, helping people to save their selections while they shop for more!

Here is a link that might be useful: PDF flyer for the GNPS sale

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Comments (6)

alex_7b
17 years ago
Will anyone be selling GA native Sabal minor, Sabal palmetto or Rhapidophyllum hystrix?
Iris GW
Original Author
17 years ago
The sale is stocked by donations (we do purchase some azaleas), so it hard to say if specific things will be there.

However, I will say that if you don't see Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Needle Palm) there, it is the one native palm that I am starting to see in nurseries (even Home Depot). I got one last year at Autumn Hill Nursery in Woodstock/Hickory Flat.
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Hi organic, there is not a list posted yet. But if you have any specific questions, ask here and I'll be happy to find out for you. It is possible that CNC was selling one of the shrub dogwoods; the leaf should look similar to Cornus florida and have opposite leaf arrangement (unless it is alternate leaf dogwood which is the only one that doesn't). Those sweetshrub do need a little sun to bloom. The blooms emerge with the leaves so if they leaves are out you should know if they are going to bloom by now.
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Iris GW
Original Author
17 years ago
Alex, I saw two sabal palms during the sale set up today. Come early!
quirkyquercus
17 years ago
So how did this go?
I wanted to go and debated going for hours this morning then it got too late. I had family in town and I had family in town last year on the same weekend and couldn't make it then either. Just for future reference, Is the sale outside so that I can bring my dogs or what? The part in the flyer about "a line forming at 8:30" kind of scared me off. Is there only one a year?
Iris GW
Original Author
17 years ago
Yes, I seem to remember you had family last year. It went very well and of course the weather was great for it. Lots of people came for the event and plenty of people came upon it just by being in Piedmont Park. I understand ABG was having an herb sale and some people might have done both.

Don't be put off by the line. The sale occupies two sides of a very broad path so the crowd quickly gets distributed as people stop to look at trees/shrubs (the first area) or head straight for the trilliums.

There are plenty of people with dogs, many of them because they just happened to be in the park and wandered through. Lots of park visitors bike, walk or skate their way through the sale.

We only have a sale of this magnitude once a year. We do sell a few plants at meetings (every other month at ABG) and also at the symposium. You are welcome to attend a meeting as a guest and buy some plants while you are there. The meeting topics are posted on the web as the date gets closer. The next meeting will be May 9th (a Wednesday) at 7 pm in Day Hall at ABG. The topic is not yet posted.

As for the sale, some stuff ran out early - jack in the pulpits and foamflower were gone by 10:30, but some trilliums and heuchera were there until the end. The two sabal minor palms (seedlings) did not sell. I think people who don't know are still unsure about having palms in Atlanta. We had tons of Virginia sweetspire (our Plant of the Year) and it all sold, but maple leaf viburnums were still available to the end. All but two of the native azaleas sold and we had a lot of those.

So, I think it was a success. We (the volunteers) had lots of fun, met a lot of new people and got to talk plants all day. Can't ask for much more than that! :) Hope to see you there next year.
Kathy Bochonko
17 years ago
I really wanted to go but my car was filled when I left the trade so it seemed silly to stop when I would have no way to get much home. So instead I cam home and spent the afternoon deciding where all my new stuff was going, now I am off to start planting. Next year we really need to to try and have our trade on a different weekend it always seems to be the same day as the sale.

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