New Location for Spring Garden Fair & Plant Sale

One of the Finger Lakes’ most highly anticipated events is the annual Spring Garden Fair and Plant Sale, organized since 1982 by Master Gardener volunteers from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County.

Due to ongoing construction at Ithaca High School, this year’s annual Spring Garden Fair and Plant Sale will be held at a NEW LOCATION — the New York State Armory, 1765 Hanshaw Road (off Rt. 13) in Ithaca — on Saturday, May 14 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.  The Armory site includes ample and easily accessed parking, a large indoor room for gardening groups, and outdoor space for more than  40 growers and gardening groups that will participate this year.  Admission is FREE and visitors are encouraged to bring carts or wagons to aid in transporting their plant purchases to their cars.

The Spring Garden Fair & Plant Sale features a wide variety of vendors from our region who offer specialty plants and gardening advice on topics ranging from growing rock garden plants to selecting native species for the garden.  Plants for sale include organically grown and heirloom vegetable transplants, colorful annuals, fragrant herbs, hanging baskets, small flowering shrubs, hardy roses, forever roses, fruit crops, evergreens, and specialty perennials. Master Gardeners from CCE-Tompkins and other community groups participate in the sale to raise funds through plant sales, and to create awareness of their programs.

Participating vendors and garden groups (as of 4/25/11) include: Auraca Herbarists, Bakers’ Acres, Besemer Hill Greenhouses, Blue Heron Farm, Cayuga Landscape, CCE-Tompkins Master Composters and Master Gardeners, Cheryl’s Place, Chickadee Farm, Coldwater Pond Nursery, Der Rosenmeister, Dewitt Middle School, Dryden Beautification Brigade, Fall Creek Garden Collective, Thomas Fields, Finger Lakes Beekeepers Club, Finger Lakes Native Plant Society, Fir Farm, Graceful Gardens, Horse Head Woodworks, Iron Kettle Farm, Ithaca Children’s Garden, Judy’s Greenhouse, Liberty Hyde Bailey Garden Club, Little’s Greenhouse,  Lorraine’s Concrete Leaves, Michaleens Florist and Garden Center, Natural Beginnings, North American Rock Garden Society, Pleasant Valley Gardens, Red Knickers, Red Tail Farm, Southern Cayuga Garden Club, Stony Creek Nursery,The Magic Garden, The Plantsmen Nursery,  A.J. Teeter Farm, Tobeytown Nursery, Veteran’s Sanctuary, Water’s Edge, West Haven Farm, White Oak Nursery, Wilgrow Perennials, Wilhides North Spencer Market and Wolftree Farm

For more information, call Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County at (607) 272-2292 or email Monika Roth at mr55@cornell.edu.  An up-to-date list of participating growers and groups is available online at http://ccetompkins.org/plantsale.