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2012 Plant Sale

The Friends 17th Annual Plant Sale:

Planning for the 2012 Annual Plant Sale has begun under the able leadership of Plant Sale Co-Chairs Sue Acheson (her 14th year) and Ilona Ontscherenki (her 3rd year). Keep your eye on the website for updates as we select the plants and the themes for the Best Ever Plantsale! Click here for the On-line Plant List showing all the plants ordered for this year's plant sale.

One big change for this year is that we have extended the days, adding hours on Sunday to the usual Friday / Saturday lineup. We hope this makes the Plant Sale more convenient for our Friends given everyone's busy Spring schedules.

This is the largest plant sale in the area, featuring a wide selection of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals from which to choose. Knowledgeable Plant Advisors are ready to answer your questions and provide valuable information about the plants offered.

Proceeds from the Friend’s Plant Sale support the Horticultural Education Department and provide programs for adults and children in all areas of horticulture at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum, Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center and Willowwood Arboretum.



FastFacts

Members-only Preview Party

Fri May 4, 4-7 pm

Main Event

Sat & Sun May 5 & 6, 10am-2pm

Click here for On-Line Plant List

Click here for Photo Gallery

Plant Sale Blog

Looking at Your Garden With New Eyes

Submitted by Webmaster on Sun, 01/29/2012 - 3:11pm

Time to replace, refresh, renew and replant our gardens after a year of extremes that seems to have changed everyone's landscape in some way. Many gardens were either heavily damaged or destroyed due to Hurricane Irene or the Halloween snowstorm or trees and shrubs have outgrown their space or outlived their usefulness. A garden is never static and sometimes we need to look at our gardens with new eyes. Perhaps the ravages of Mother Nature can be turned into a new adventure for the gardener.

spireaogonflowers-th
Spirea Ogon
The loss of a grand old tree opens up the possibility of a new sunny spot to garden. A shrub that has outgrown its space can be filled by something new and perhaps better--more floriferous, more disease resistant,with multi-season interest, etc.

It's a time to think outside the box. Why replace that rhododendron with another rhododendron when you can replace it with something else--like fothergilla which has vanilla scented bottle-brush flowers in the Spring and beautiful Fall foliage. Although fothergilla is not evergreen I don't miss those rhododendron leaves curled uptight against their branches, as if shivering in the winter cold. Or plan on adding a witch hazel to truly brighten a winter day. On this breezy January day (appearing a little earlier than usual) I see the coppery-orange petals of Hamamelis Jelena out my window, beckoning me to go outside and smell its gentle perfume and delight in its audacity to defy winter. Read the rest of the post »



"Scentsational" Plantings

Submitted by Webmaster on Sat, 01/21/2012 - 5:45pm
Lilac
Lilac

Gardens are for pleasure. Designed to please you, the gardener. To delight with color. To entice with fragrance. To soothe the mind and refresh the spirit. A place to sit, to linger and to indulge the senses. A private space as well as a public place. It beckons you in, enfolds you and releases you refreshed, back to everyday living. Your garden is a sanctuary and a playground. It is not just an extension of the house but an extension of you.

One of your gardens' greatest pleasures is fragrance. A scent can carry you back to childhood, remind you of a first love, invigorate you, make you hungry, energize you or give you comfort. Think of lilacs in May. You can recall their heady perfume, even now, in the middle of winter, when their branches are bare. Imagine a hot Summer's day when the air is suffused with the fragrance of lavender. Its fragrance is warm, heavy and transports you to fields in Provence. It is a scent so loved that we make it into soaps, sashays, and lotions so that we can indulge year round. Brush the leaves of basil and soon your mouth is watering in anticipation of a Summer salad or pasta with pesto. Crush mint leaves and you'll be longing for an iced tea or a julep at the Kentucky Derby.

To this day gardenias bring me back to the corsage my father gave me one Easter, that my date gave me for the Junior Prom and the bouquet I carried at my wedding. I cannot pass one without gently sticking my nose in, I cannot resist buying them, even though I know my green thumb does not extend to the indoors. They always bring a smile to my face. Such is the power of fragrance. Read the rest of the post »



Last Year's Plant Sale Was Great!

Submitted by oacheson on Sun, 01/15/2012 - 4:52pm
IMG_6586-th
Click for Slideshow.

Mother Nature cooperated, the plants were terrific and everyone working on the 2011 Plant Sale were wonderful. Click on the image on the left to see pictures from the Friday night Preview Party and Sale.

We hope to see all of you at this year's sale.



On-Line Plantlist

Submitted by oacheson on Sun, 01/15/2012 - 4:48pm

Preparations for ordering have started, and our first efforts can be seen on this year's list. Hundreds of plants were ordered for last year's plantsale -- annuals, biennials, perennials, trees, shrubs, herbs and vines and this year's should be even better! Check them out any time by going to our online plant list. We update it regularly, so you'll want to check it often. Be prepared for the best Friends of the Frelinghuysen Arboretum Plantsale!



What can a gardener do during this very snowy winter but dream

Submitted by oacheson on Sun, 01/15/2012 - 4:47pm
IMG_5764-th

Join us for an entry from this time last year....

What can a gardener do during this very snowy winter but dream? Dream of the latest offerings in the catalogs, that one area in the garden that needs tweaking, how to turn the patio or balcony into a tropical jungle. I long for the blossoms of hellebores hidden under the snow, the cheery flowers of witch hazels against the pure white snow, the first snowdrops. I dream of flowers and fragrance, birds and butterflies. The Friends Plant Sale Committee is doing more than dreaming, we are busy researching and ordering the newest stars in the plant world -- trees and shrubs with multiple season interest, perennials bold and new as well as tried and true, annuals and tropicals in every shade and hue and herbs for your culinary enjoyment. Read the rest of the post »



Hours

Grounds - 9:00a to Dusk daily

Haggerty Education Center - 9:00 am to 4:30 pm every day of the week (except holidays). It is also open for participants in scheduled events at other times.

Directions

Physical Address

353 East Hanover Ave.
Morristown, NJ 07962

Click here for maps and detailed directions

Membership

The benefits of membership are many: The Arboretum Leaves newsletter, private events, reduced admission for most events, etc.

Get all the information on our Membership Page and sign up on-line.
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