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News Releases Archive (Prior to 2011)

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

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Chadwick Spring Plant Sale Set for May 5-7

April 29, 2011

Parking Update from Mary Maloney, 5/2/11:

Several events will be going on during our spring plant sale so we ask for your patience and cooperation with parking  changes each day. Wherever you park, please know that you will still be able to drive up to the plant sale site to pick up your purchases--our loader volunteers will assist with getting your plants into your vehicle.
 
Parking Directions for Thursday and Friday, May 5 and 6: free parking is available in lots 3 and 4, just east of Fred Taylor Drive from the Ohio 4-H Center (2201 Fred Taylor Drive). Parking also available in the Vivian Hall parking lot (2121 Fyffe Road--site of last year’s sale) and the Agriculture Administration Building parking lot (2120 Fyffe Road). Our parking volunteers will be on site to assist as you arrive.
 
Parking Directions for Saturday, May 7: free parking is available in lot 5 (northwest of the Jesse Owens Stadium), but Vivian Hall parking lot and the Agriculture Administration Building parking lot might be easier to access because of the U Shred It event that will be hosted in the Schott Arena parking lot Saturday morning. Our parking volunteers will be on site to assist as you arrive.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- On the heels of Arbor Day and just in time for Mother's Day comes the annual Spring Plant Sale, Auction, and Gardening Fair at Ohio State University's Chadwick Arboretum and Learning Gardens.

More than 650 varieties of uncommon plants and proven performers for Ohio's climate and soil conditions will be available. The event is set for Friday and Saturday, May 6-7, with a members-only event on the evening of Thursday, May 5. Anyone can become a member at the gate.

Gardeners looking for unusual selections, particularly trees or shrubs, will want to make sure they attend one of the sale's auctions, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

"The auction items have been donated from growers all around the state," said Mary Maloney, arboretum director. "It's the good stuff. Sometimes it might be unusual in habit or form, or maybe the fruiting or fall color is unusual. True plant lovers flock to this auction because it's awesome stuff. And we have a great selection this year."

The auctions generally last for an hour and a half to two hours. A list of auction items and a comprehensive list (16 pages long) of everything expected to be available at the sale are both on the arboretum's website, http://chadwickarboretum.osu.edu.

The sale is open to the public 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, May 6 and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 7. The members-only event, including a pre-sale reception, is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. on Thursday, May 5. Anyone wishing to become a member on site can do so quickly if they bring a completed application form, available on the Chadwick Arboretum website (http://go.osu.edu/chadmember) with payment made payable to Ohio State University.

This year, the event is located at the northwest corner of Lane Avenue and Fred Taylor Drive, one block east of Rt. 315. Parking is available nearby. After purchasing items, customers can drive up to the sale site where volunteers will load their car. A map is also available on the website.

Offerings at the plant sale include native plants, heirloom vegetables, herbs, hostas and other perennials, annuals and tropicals, hanging baskets, unusual and dwarf conifers, rain garden plants, roses, as well as garden art and gifts for Mother's Day. 

Plant Ambassadors, horticulture students and faculty, Franklin County Master Gardeners, the Central Ohio Hosta Society, and many other experts will be on hand to help with plant selections.

Visitors to the sale also may want to visit the nearby Chadwick gardens. More information is on the website at http://chadwickarboretum.osu.edu

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Author(s): 
Martha Filipic
Source(s): 
Mary Maloney