It’s bloomin’ plant sale season

It’s been a cool and windy start to spring this year. The anticipation of flowers — not a few pretty blooms scattered here and there but a lush and abundant flowering display — grows stronger each day.

Even small spaces can be filled with masses of vibrant flowers. For lasting appeal, choose quintessential perennials such as irises, peonies, clematis, delphinium, poppies, salvia, foxglove, clustered bellflower, daisies, speedwell, salvia, lady’s mantle, phlox, echinops (globe thistle), daylilies, snow-in-summer and more. You can also sprinkle in self-seeding annuals like snapdragons, cornflowers and calendula.

What could be more satisfying than a classic cottage garden look that features extravagant colour? Key factors include planting densely in groups of at least three. Choose plants of different heights, including ground covers, so that no bare ground is visible. You may also want to create curved borders and add a vertical structure such as an obelisk, trellis or arbour.

But above all, you will need beautiful plants that flower reliably.

Garden club plant sales are a stellar opportunity — a gold mine — for finding old-fashioned plant treasures ideal for creating a romantic, flower-filled garden. In the coming weeks, a range of events are scheduled to take place in Winnipeg and throughout the province. Here are just some of the many events you won’t want to miss.

On Thursday, May 21, the Charleswood Garden Club will host its annual plant auction at St. Mary Anglican Church, 3830 Roblin Blvd. The auction begins at 6:30 p.m.

Beausejour Daylily Display Gardens hosts its spring plant sale on Saturday, May 23 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at Beausejour Daylily Gardens, 1^st Street North, Beausejour.

The East Kildonan Garden Club’s annual plant sale is on Wednesday, May 27^t at Holy Eucharist Parish Centre, 460 Munroe Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m.

The 28^th annual Selkirk and District Horticultural Society plant sale will be held on Friday, May 29 at the Memorial Hall, 368 Jemima St., Selkirk. The sale runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

On May 30, The West Kildonan Horticultural Society hosts its annual Fiesta Day plant sale, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Seven Oaks Arboretum, 430 Partridge Ave.

The Manitoba Master Gardener Association will hold its annual plant sale on June 6, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Bronx Park Community Club, 720 Henderson Hwy.

On June 7, the Can-West Iris Society Iris Show will be held at the Bourkevale Community Centre, 100 Ferry Rd.

Each one of these events is open to the public and admission is free. In addition to tried-and-true perennials that come directly from members’ own gardens, there are also seed-grown annuals and vegetable plants for sale.

“Some of the favourites among gardeners that sell out really fast include peonies, irises and daylilies,” says Renata Cook, president of the East Kildonan Garden Club. Other plants high in demand, says Cook, include milkweed, bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), echinacea coneflower, giant hyssop and nodding pink onion (Allium cernuum).

Leila Wegert, organization director for the Selkirk and District Horticultural Society (SDHS), has already potted up more than 68 plants for the sale from her own spacious garden in St. Andrews. Last week, she was excited to see that the self-seeding larkspur in her vegetable patch was coming up.

“My perennial flax and snow-in-summer are greening, too. I am confident that I will have many plants to bring to the SDHS sale,” says Wegert.

Perennial flax (Linum perenne) has a wild, airy appearance, perfect for a classic cottage garden. Snow-in-summer (Cerastium tomentosum) is the quintessential border plant with silvery-gray foliage and masses of small, white daisy-like flowers.

Wegert says that hollyhocks were a popular item at last year’s sale. An old-fashioned plant, hollyhocks seem to be enjoying a resurgence, she says. But not everyone finds it easy to grow hollyhocks. That’s another reason that garden club plant sales find such a ready audience — expert gardeners are on hand to share knowledge and advice.

Wegert grows larkspur in her garden every year. Larkspur is a common name for delphinium, however, it is considered an annual. “It is very long blooming, good for cut flowers, airy in a grouping, easy care, and self seeds readily,” says Wegert. “I put some in the sale every year.”

In her own beautiful garden, Wegert grows drifts of blue-flowered larkspur together with the scarlet-red blooms of Flanders lady bird poppy (Papaver commutatum). A garden classic, the Flanders poppy is an heirloom annual that self-seeds and returns year after year.

“The seeds for larkspur originally came from my mother’s garden in Steinbach in 1986 when I scattered them at our cottage,” says Wegert. “When I started my garden in St. Andrews, I scattered the seeds around everywhere. For a few years, I had way too many, so I have been more diligent about deadheading. They really do much better if they are thinned out as one plant can make quite a nice large grouping if they are given the space.”

Wegert combines larkspur and Flanders poppies with Centaurea cyanus cornflower, which is also known as bachelor’s button. Centaurea is another popular item at the SDHS plant sale.

A highly sought-after item, says Wegert, is Crater Lake blue speedwell. The full name is Veronica austriaca subsp. teucrium Crater Lake Blue. It has been awarded the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit. I have looked for it at garden centres but never found it. But it is a staple plant at the SDHS sale.

What makes Crater Lake Blue speedwell so appealing is its intense gentian blue flowers that bloom from late spring to early summer. “Like all Veronica speedwell varieties, it self-seeds so I have had lots of seedlings over the years. Crater Lake blue blooms earlier than other varieties. It is shorter (about 30 to 38 cm tall), too, and more mounded,” says Wegert.

Peonies fly out the door. Often sold as tuberous roots with three to five eye root divisions, they should be planted immediately. Cheryl Geske grows sweeps of peonies in her Gimli garden which she combines with annual calendula flowers. “They provide some vibrant colour close to the peony foliage that remains after the blooms are finished,” says Geske.

Irises are perennial favourites that are quickly snapped up, too. Bearded iris is among the most popular selection at the SDHS plant sale. At the CanWest Iris Society Iris Show, however, iris enthusiasts have a heyday choosing from a wide selection of heritage varieties and rare specimens.

Spring is a time when many gardeners divide hosta plants and daylilies. Both are popular items at plant sales because often the selection is more varied than what you might find at a garden centre. You may be fortunate enough also to find an unusual variety of clematis, a beloved perennial vine.

Garden club and garden society plant sales are high stakes shopping events. Competition is fierce as participants are determined to secure the most highly desired items — gardeners may even use their elbows. Plan to arrive early and remember to bring cash as well as your own carry-out containers.

Let me know what treasures you find!

colleenizacharias@gmail.com