Last weekend was the annual Friend's School (giant) plant sale at the Minnesota State Fair grounds. I'd heard of it vaguely, back when I'd have had no real inclination to attend a plant sale, but had never been. Reading their website, I got the impression that this sale was no small thing -- people lined up for hours ahead of time to get in and there was quite a lot of pomp surrounding the homemade carts many of the ritualistic followers constructed.
The more I read, the more I was intimidated.
Luckily, Ian and I had a lot of things going on last weekend (including a viewing of Star Trek!). Despite all warnings, we decided to go to Half Price Sunday an hour after opening (1pm) and many hours after the lines began to form.
In a word, it was FUN!
My initial suspicions were right, after the throngs got in there, the line was gone and we were able to walk right in. Sure, things were picked over, and quite a lot, but there were still plenty of plants left and having no real plan for what we wanted, we still felt an abundance of choice. Not only that, but it seems that while the sale volunteers were quickly empting out the store houses by restocking, hidden stashes of the more sought after plants were found, so we actually had our choice of some of the most popular ones that others had not been able to get their hands on and for HALF PRICE!
One of my finds was a tiny, slightly sad-looking, begonia rex. What a beauty. Not only do begonias flower they have the most interesting leaves. Begonia rexes are known for a curly-que that forms in their variegated leaves giving the eye plenty to follow in a simple gaze.
Although picked over, there were still enough to choose from to make me happy. For $1.25 I made my selection; a small plant with only four leaves, but thick-looking stems. He took a little abuse by the time we got him home and two of his leaves had to be amputated, but I found a small white pot and gave him a good start. Within a day he had perked up and now, just five days after purchase, he's grown two inches! All I did was read up a little on what conditions begonias like and I guess I nailed it! He's currently located on my shaded, west-facing kitchen window and I don't think I'll be moving him too soon.
Other plants we picked up:
Turkish hazelnut tree
Blueberry bush
Ornamental cabbages
Sweet basil
English Thyme
Spanish lavender
Cumin
Sage
Sweet marjoram
Violet bellflower
Blanket flower
Bearded Iris
Lupine
Oriental poppy
Broccoli
Frago pink strawberry
Violet labrador
Aand a variety of lilies including one called "Crimson Pirate" -- how could I resist that?!?
