By Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Since 1969, the Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens Spring Plant Sale has served as a harbinger of spring and an invitation to novice, seasoned and would-be gardeners alike to start planting. Throughout the year, volunteers gather weekly to prepare to offer a stunning array of plants and share their passion and best tips for gardening.
Nestled inside a busily humming potting shed alongside a dozen fellow gardeners, Mary Phillips sprinkles milkweed seeds into the cells of a seedling tray, making sure each is placed perfectly inside its designated space. She takes joy in this simple task, which will produce a bounty of beauty for landscapes and a welcome habitat for butterflies come summer.
“These are plants that can’t be found everywhere,” said Phillips, who is one of more than 400 volunteers who donate their time and expertise to the Spring Plant Sale . “Milkweed is the only plant that monarch butterflies lay their eggs on because it’s the only plant their caterpillars can eat.”Expert advice from seasoned gardeners is a big part of the reason the annual sale has attracted droves of locals for five decades. With volunteers representing a dozen growing groups poised to share their knowledge, the 50th anniversary sale is set to offer more than 100,000 plants selected specifically for Birmingham and the surrounding region.
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