Teatown's Mary Haley: A Gardener's Dream

I’ll admit it. I’ve gone shopping at the big box stores for plants. And a good many of them paid the price with their dear, sweet lives.  Being the stubborn type, I’ve actually done this several times over. Wallet drained and a bit of frustrated, I thought to myself, there has got to be a better way to find plants that will actually grow in my yard.

Enter Teatown’s Annual Plant Sale—every gardener’s dream featuring the unusual, new and tried and true. Now I wouldn’t dare insult any gardener by lumping myself into that category too. But that is the beauty of this plant sale—it’s not just for the experts. In fact, the experts have already done the hard work for you! They have carefully chosen perennials, annuals, hanging baskets, vegetables, herbs, deer resistant plants and butterfly/bee attractors using their knowledge about what grows best in our area.  And for those of you who do have plant know-how, they offer hard-to-find and unique varieties of plants and USDA organic herbs.

Beyond that, master gardeners and expert volunteers can offer advice on how to choose the best location for your garden, which plants to use and how to care for and pair them to create an overall garden ‘look’. Just who are these experts, you ask? Here are some of the pros that hand-select our plants:

Maggie Pichura--Environmental Educator with 10 years of experience. Maggie is a Master Gardener who has been volunteering with Cornell Cooperative Extension since 2006.    

Mary Anne Benedetto—A Plant Sale veteran for the past 19 years with expert knowledge on annuals. She is always on the lookout for a wide variety of annuals to compliment many landscapes and levels of gardening expertise.

Holly von Bernuth—Formerly of Nilssons Greenhouses, Holly says the plants in her garden are survivors of a 'tough love' approach.  After many years of working on the Plant Sale, she is still excited by new plant offerings.

So, if you are like me, and need an expert to guide you with gardening and some plants that are proven growers  in this area, then check out Teatown’s Plant Sale. The sale is open for two days:

Friday, May 11 from 4pm-7pm $10 admission—your chance to get the first pick at all the plants before they sell out!

Saturday, May 12 from 9am-2pm Free admission

Teatown is located at 1600 Spring Valley Road, Ossining. For more information, call 914-762-2912 x110 or visit www.teatown.org/plant_sale.htm