PHILADELPHIA - On Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12, the Morris Arboretum will host its annual Plant Sale at the the Arboretum’s Horticulture Center at Bloomfield Farm, across the street from the Arboretum’s public garden.
 
The Morris Arboretum’s 2012 Plant Sale will once again showcase an unusual and hard-to-find selection of plants this year. In annuals, the colorful favorites and tasty selections of vegetables and herbs will be offered, plus an exciting selection of plants for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden.  Both sun-loving and shade plants will be available.
 
The Arboretum’s Plant Sale is always full of interesting perennials and woody plants that are not widely available at most local retailers.  The Arboretum’s perennials are grown by local nurseries familiar with our climate and soils so their selections are well suited to thrive in this area. This year you will also find a special selection of roses, including some of the older roses you might remember from your grandmother’s garden.  Many of the newer rose varieties are very fussy and hard to maintain, so why not look back to some of the classic roses that have passed the test of time?  With their beautifully fragrant flowers, who can’t resist roses like these? But don’t wait around until the end of the Plant Sale as quantities are very limited:
 
Rosa ‘Alfred Colomb’ – Hybrid Perpetual 1865.  Exhibits flowers of bright crimson with a darker blush and is healthy and vigorous. The fragrance of the flowers is a delight.
Rosa ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’ -Noisette 1879.  The flowers are intensely fragrant, cupped, and double opening the palest of pinks, then cooling to creamy white,  its nearly thorn less canes make it a very easy rose to train
Rosa ‘Cornelia’- Hybrid Musk 1925.  Coppery apricot turning pink shades, musk fragrance
 
The Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society returns to the Morris Arboretum Plant Sale again this year. A large selection of outstanding rhododendrons, all hardy in the Delaware Valley, will be offered, many of which are not available elsewhere. Each was selected for the beauty of its flowers and foliage, and the appeal they add to the garden.
 
For Morris Arboretum members, the 2012 free Dividend Plants are very special: Acer griseum – paperbark maple; Syringa oblata var. dilatata ‘Cheyenne’ – Cheyenne early lilac; and Cephalotaxus sinensis - Chinese plum-yew.  And look for some very unusual “Surprise Dividends” this year!  Most of the “surprise” plants are grown from wild-collected seed from collecting trips throughout the years. Choose from trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, but come early, since these plants will go quickly!
 
These are just a few highlights of the many plants that will be offered at the Arboretum’s 2012 Plant Sale, so mark your calendars to see the newly christened Platinum Level LEED ® Certified Horticulture Center, a wonderful selection of plants, and the availability of expert advice from Morris Arboretum staff.
 
Friday May 11 from 10am – 8pm, is Members-only day.  All Morris Arboretum members are invited and will receive a 10% discount on their entire Plant Sale purchase, and receive a free dividend plant. Anyone who joins before, or at the Plant Sale is eligible to receive the member benefits.

Saturday, May 12 from 10am – 4pm is open to the public.
Morris Arboretum members receive a 10% discount on purchases.
 
The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania is located at 100 East Northwestern Avenue in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.  The 92-acre horticulture display garden features a spectacular collection of mature trees in a beautiful and colorful landscape. The Arboretum includes numerous picturesque spots such as a formal rose garden, historic water features, a swan pond, and the only remaining freestanding fernery in North America. A new permanent nationally award winning exhibit, Out on a Limb – a Tree Adventure adds to Morris Arboretum’s allure by transporting visitors 50 feet up into the treetops on a canopy walk that requires no climbing.  The Morris Arboretum’s new Horticulture Center Complex has received Platinum Level LEED® Certification, the highest sustainability rating of the U.S. Green Building Council. For more information, visit www.morrisarboretum.org.