Cobourg Horticultural Society announces its annual plant sale May 18
Collin Whitehouse
By Cecilia Nasmith
May 18 is the big day for those who eagerly await each year's Cobourg Horticultural Society annual plant sale.
It will be waiting for you from 9 to 11 a.m. At the Columbus Community Centre (232 Spencer St. E.), with a large selection of perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees, vegetables and even a Tools and Treasures yard sale.
This huge event has become a regular par of the May holiday weekend for many in the Cobourg areas, especially gardeners who know it's an excellent way to augment the plants in their own gardens with ones grown by other local enthusiasts.
“As usual, there will be a large selection of plants for shade or sun, plus native plants, shrubs, trees, house plants and ,” the club's press release listed.
“Some of the club's members start heritage tomatoes and other vegetables early for the sale, and these are always sought after. A table laden with varieties of perennial hosta lilies is popular, as hostas are both easy to divide and shade-tolerant.”
The Tools and Treasures sale will be set up just outside the Columbus Community Centre in time to serve those who are lining up for the doors to open, offering a good selection of tools, vases, pots, decorations, equipment and other garden-related treasures.
The sale is an important fundraiser that enables the society with its work of programming interesting speakers for their monthly meetings, maintaining two town gardens (the Five Corners Millennium Garden and the Victoria Park Rose Garden) and providing an annual scholarship (which has recently been increased to $1,000) to a student graduating from a Cobourg high school who will be going on to a post-secondary education in horticulture or a related field.
All members are involved in some way, from planning duties and distributing flyers to starting seeds, digging up and potting plants, and getting everything set up the day before.
Sale day finds members busy again, providing advice to buyers, processing payment or transporting plants to the parked cars and trunks of delighted purchasers.
Everyone is welcome. But smart shoppers know that the best plants sell out quickly, and come early for the best selection of healthy locally grown plants at modest prices.