The UC Santa Cruz Arboretum is holding its annual Spring Plant Sale in conjunction with the California Native Plant Society on Saturday, April 20, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The sale will take place at the Arboretum Eucalyptus Grove on High Street near the intersection with Western Drive.
The sale will feature plants that grow especially well in the Monterey Bay area. This includes native California plants as well as ones from Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. Most of the plants were grown at the Arboretum and are not available in nurseries. Additional plants donated by local nurseries, including California Succulents, Monterey Bay Nursery, Sierra Azul, and Suncrest Nursery, will be for sale.
Each plant comes with a written description of its color, size, and best growing conditions. The sale features drought tolerant plants, frost-resistant plants, cacti, groundcovers, and plants that provide nectar to hummingbirds. A complete list of available plants will be posted on the Arboretum's web site (http://www2.ucsc.edu/arboretum) on April 14.
The sale will be open to Arboretum and California Native Plant Society members only from 10 to 11 a.m. During this time members can purchase Blandfordia nobilis, a member of the lily family with reddish-orange blossoms, as well as a Telopea cross, Telopea oreades X speciosissima, and Leucospermum cordifolium. These are difficult plants to propagate, so the limited quantities are available to members only. Memberships can be purchased at the gate on the day of the sale.
The Arboretum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Norrie's Gifts is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The Jean and Bill Lane Horticultural Library is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m.
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Editor's note: Reporters may contact Helen Englesberg or Stephen McCabe at the Arboretum at (831) 427-2998, or by email at hpix@cats.ucsc.edu or smccabe@cats.ucsc.edu.
Images can be downloaded from the web at http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/download/.
