GreenUP Ecology Park annual opening sale and celebration

GreenUP is celebrating the coming of spring with their annual plant sale at Ecology Park Native Plant Nursery on May 18.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. visitors can purchase trees, shrubs, ferns, edible plants, wildflowers and more during the opening sale. GreenUP is also working with volunteer experienced gardeners who will be on hand to help folks select the best plants for their garden.

“This is a long-running event we’ve been doing for at least 25 years,” said GreenUP Ecology Park and Landscape Programs director Vern Bastable. “We have our full selection of trees and plants, but we also bring in a limited number of things specially for the opening sale to entice people to come out and support the park.”

Among those specialty offerings this spring are cucumber magnolia and beech trees. The students at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School also grow a variety of garden plants like flowers, herbs, tomatoes and other vegetables, and bring their bounty to the plant sale every year. All of the sales fund the operation of Ecology Park and the children’s programs that are hosted there every summer.

The nursery grows and tends to more than 200 plant species. They also sell compost, wood chips and mulch throughout the summer, but compost is not available until the day following the opening sale.

Locals are welcome to wander the park and view the nursery and mature plants anytime, but the garden market’s operating hours throughout the season are Thursdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.