CAMDEN, ME - For more than 30 years, midcoast gardeners have flocked to Merryspring’s annual plant sale in search of the new as well as the tried and true. This May 18th (members only) and 19th the tradition will remain intact, with bargain-priced perennials, seedlings, and shrubs filling tables throughout the park’s gardens.
Raised in Merryspring’s own greenhouse by experienced staff and volunteers, ornamentals as well as edibles have been chosen with Maine’s challenging conditions in mind. On hand this year will be ultra-hardy shrub roses from the Canadian Explorer series (‘Alexander Mackenzie’ and ‘Frontenac’), along with super-tough ‘Winnipeg Parks’ (the buds smell so good it doesn’t even need to bloom for you to enjoy it) and ‘Morden Sunrise’. Classic hybrid teas include the glamorous ‘Marilyn Monroe’, as well as much-loved ‘Peace’, reputedly in America since the 1940s when it was smuggled out of France in a diplomatic pouch shortly before the Nazis arrived. Other time-tested ornamentals include exquisite ‘Blue Lace’ delphiniums, ‘Dr. Alexander Fleming’ herbaceous peonies, and the award-winning ‘Thomas Killen’ Shasta daisy, with nice thick stems great for cutting. Bleeding hearts (pink as well as white), ostrich ferns, and Virginia bluebells will also be on hand.
New this year will be a broad assortment of native perennials selected specifically for their appeal to pollinators. Butterflies, hummingbirds, honeybees, and native bees (including bumblebees) will feast on pink turtlehead (Chelone lyonii ‘Hot Lips’), a knockout with brilliant rose-hued blossoms and lustrous deep-green foliage. Other easy-care offerings beloved for their nectar include two types of asclepias, red-orange A. tuberosa (butterfly weed) and mid-pink A. incarnata (swamp milkweed). These long-blooming beauties (June through August) make eye-catching contributions to borders as well as naturalized slopes and hillsides. Pollinators will make a beeline, too, for golden Helenium autumnale, great for fall color and well suited to mass plantings. Perfect for the back of the border is Culver’s root (veronicastrum virginicum), featuring dramatic spikes of white veronica-like blossoms in July and August; like helenium, it flourishes en masse in moist meadows as well as in more formal garden settings. Irresistible to native bees and honeybees is fragrant short-toothed mountain mint (Pycanthemum muticum), with showy pink blossoms and a compact habit. Unlike other mints, it is not invasive.
Herbs on hand will include parsley, basil, assorted thymes, and English lavender. Among this year’s crop of tomatoes are ‘Box Car Willie’ (a nice, mid-sized, old-time favorite), ‘Caspian Pink’, ‘Celebrity’, ‘Cherokee Purple’, ‘Green Zebra’, ‘Mirabelle Blanche’ (an heirloom from France, white with a pink blush, for the adventurous in spirit), ‘Prudens Purple’, ‘Roma’ (a dependable plum type), ‘Rutgers Select’, ‘San Francisco Fog’ (good for cool nights and coastal climates), ‘Super Bush’ (for container gardens), and ‘Wapsipinicon Peach’ (yellow fruits, a little fuzzy and pretty tasty). Among the cherry types are ‘Gardener’s Delight’, yellow ‘Sungold’, ‘Super Sweet 100’, and ‘Tigerella’. Other edibles on order include red raspberries (‘Polana’), black raspberries (‘Bristol’), and strawberries (‘Earliglow’).
As in years past, divisions donated by members and friends, and plants from Merryspring’s own gardens, will turn the sale into a not-to-be-missed treasure hunt. Among contributions left at the park’s doorstep to date are Siberian irises, sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, pink anemones, Russian sage, and beebalm. Of special note will be hostas and other shade lovers from Fernwood Gardens and Nursery, in Montville, and divisions from the Maine Daylily Society, whose display garden is located at Merryspring.
The two-day event gets underway Friday afternoon, May 18th (4 to 6 p.m., members only) and continues Saturday morning, May 19th (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.). Merryspring Nature Center is located at the end of Conway Road, off Route One in Camden, behind the Hannaford market. For more information or to become a member, call (207) 236-2239.
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