Fredericton Botanic Garden to host annual spring plant sale

The Fredericton Botanic Garden's annual plant sale is coming up this weekend, and we dig up the dirt on the event.

The Fredericton Botanic Garden is hosting its annual spring plant sale this weekend.

From perennials to annuals, gardeners can peruse more than 5,000 plants while also supporting the non-profit organization and garden space.

“Our annual plant sale is a main fundraiser for the garden, and we bring in plant material and we grow plant material and our members donate plant material,” said Heather Connors-Dunphy, with the Fredericton Botanic Garden.

“Most plant lovers or gardeners will find something there that will interest them, whether it’s vegetables or a new patch of rhubarb or a perennial that they haven’t seen before or a native plant.”

The money from the annual sale is used to maintain the Fredericton Botanic Garden.

“In the wintertime, for instance, a lot of times we will lose plants. So, we have to replace them and we want to build new gardens. We want to enhance the spaces that we have,” said Connors-Dunphy.

“So that’s where the money goes, plus into some wages and things like that. A garden can’t be run without a lot of labor.”

The Fredericton Botanic Garden has 20 themed gardens that range across the season.

“Right now, the thing that’s beginning to bloom is our peony garden,” said Connors-Dunphy.

“We have four different types of peonies in there.”

There is also Hal’s Garden, which was made in memory of one of the founding members.

“It’s all primula, and that’s hostas, that sort of thing, it’s very much a woodland and shade garden,” said Connors-Dunphy.

“The gardens kind of follow the seasons and there’s always, I shouldn’t say always, but generally always something blooming.”

The Fredericton Botanic Garden also has a special place for book lovers.

“We have a garden space which is called the Literature Garden and most of the material in there is either mentioned in a book or a poem or something written by a New Brunswicker,” said Connors-Dunphy.

“And in that garden, or near that garden, we have a little free library which is a poetry book library.”

There is also an online auction component to the spring plant sale, the catalog can be found at frederictonbotanicgarden.com.

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