Friday, May 7, 2010 - Sunday, May 9, 2010
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Early Bird Special: NBG Members only 9 a.m. - 10 a.m.

2010 Plant Sale General Plant List

Trees, Shrubs and Vines Plant List
Perennials, Grasses and Ferns Plant List
Tropicals and Succulents Plant List

Our annual Spring Plant Sale has long been known throughout the region as one of the best places to pick up unusual plants at bargain prices. You’ll find a wide variety of plants from the rare and unusual to proven winners for the Hampton Roads region. Find the perfect plant to create a special look for your yard.

• Our Horticulture staff will be on hand to give expert advice and help to customers.
• Visit our new GROWING GREEN Zone
• The Virginia Camellia Society, the Tidewater Rose Society and the Herb Society will be selling their specialty plants all weekend.
• The Virginia Native Plant Society will offer a variety of plants on Saturday only.

Top Picks

Japanese Iris (Iris ensata) 2010 Signature Plant	The Japanese iris, our 2010 Signature Plant, commemorates the 15th anniversary of the re-dedication of our Japanese Garden, Kitakyushu Park in 1995. Japanese irises are sometimes thought of as the orchids of the iris clan. They offer the largest of iris flowers, sometimes dinner plate size, and come in a multitude of colors and patterns often within the same flower. Their late bloom extends the iris season into June and July. In the home garden, their bold upright foliage serves as a contrast to shorter, mounded perennials even when they are out of bloom. Japanese irises are easy to grow and thrive in moist, well-prepared garden soil in the sunny border or at the edge of a pond. We are offering approximately 40 different named cultivars as potted divisions from our garden plants.
Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)	‘Edgy™ Hearts’ is one of a new line of hydrangeas with white edges to the large pinkish-red flowers.  ‘Let’s Dance® Starlight’ is the first lace cap to bloom on new wood, an advantage if buds are lost in cold winters or mis-timed pruning. Both of these shrubs are small to medium height and fit readily in smaller gardens.
Pagoda Flower (Clerodendrum paniculatum ‘Firefly’)	This flamboyant tropical behaves as a returning perennial after dying to the ground in the winter. In our gardens it will reach 3-5 feet tall by autumn when the large terminal clusters of scarlet flowers will bloom. The small individual flowers are arranged in tiers like a Japanese pagoda.  The handsome tropical looking foliage can be as much as 12 inches across.
Coneflower (Echinacea hybrids)	The ‘Mac ‘n Cheese’ and ‘Tomato Soup’ coneflowers hold stunning golden and tomato-red flowers respectively on branched, upright plants. Unusual colors for coneflowers, a pairing of both is sure to bring your summer garden to life.
Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens ‘Major Wheeler’)	I firmly believe we don’t use enough vines in our gardens. This long blooming native will easily clothe a fence post, arbor, or trellis. This mildew-free selection starts to produce its scarlet trumpets in late spring and continues long into the summer.  This is a hummingbird magnet!
False Indigo (Baptisia hybrids)	We are offering three hybrids featuring a variety of colors: yellow fading to blush orange (‘Solar Flare Prairieblues’™), soft periwinkle blue (‘Starlite Prairieblues’™) and smoky violet-purple (‘Twilight Prairieblues’™). All three bloom in late spring and make bushy, long-lived plants that carry as many as 100 flowering stems once established.
Rose Mallow (Hibiscus ‘Cranberry Crush’)	This plant produces near black buds that open to glossy, deep scarlet red flowers that measure 7-8” across. The color is really striking. The compact three foot clumps are perfect for growing in smaller residential gardens and in containers.
Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Invincibelle® Spirit’)	This is the first ever pink blooming selection of the popular native Smooth Hydrangea. It blooms on new wood and is advertised as continually producing new flowers right up to frost. Proceeds from the sale of starter plants go toward funding the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Carpet Rose (Rosa ‘Oso Easy™ Fragrant Spreader’)	Here is a new disease resistant groundcover rose loaded with single pink fragrant flowers with yellow stamen centers. This rose is great for providing a flowering carpet for large sunny areas such as slopes where the plants will attain 1-2 feet in height and 5 feet in width.
Summersweet (Clethra ‘Vanilla Spice’™)	This shrub is an improved selection of an outstanding native plant with tolerance of wet soil and fantastic fall color. Its main attraction is its mid-summer fragrant, pure white flowers that are almost double the size of the typical species.

Saturday, May 8 & Sunday, May 9

Once you've purchased plants for your garden, learn more about green gardening with these organizations:

• Mike’s Rain Barrels – Learn how to harvest rainwater to improve the health of your garden and save money.
• Five Points Community Market – learn the art of urban gardening – lots of food in a little space.
• Solar Services – Power your garden using the sun.
• Keep Norfolk Beautiful – 10 things you can do to green your home.
• Backyard Bouquet Demonstrationson Saturday - Learn to use the plants in your yard for floral designs
• Get Fresh Café from Five Points will also be selling healthy food for lunch!

Children’s Growing Green Activities in WOW World of Wonders Children’s Adventure Garden:

• Recycling game
• Earth pots – recycle newspaper into planting pots
• Create decorative pots from recyclable materials
• Plant a seed in your newspaper or decorative pots
• Vermicomposting – composting with worms
• Hold a worm and find out how they help the earth!

The Growing Green Zone is made possible by:

The Spring Plant Sale is a fundraiser for the Garden and Education Fund.