Get ready! CT Hort Spring Plant Sale & Auction is May 5

Mark your calendar to attend this lively, fun-filled, and educational event on Friday, May 5, starting at 6:30pm at Bethany Covenant Church (785 Mill St., Berlin).

With growing season and Mother’s Day approaching, the auction is a great spot to find just the right plant or gift. The evening begins with a plant sale while bids are accepted for unusual silent auction items and refreshments are served. Then it’s on to the live auction.

Horticulturist Nancy DuBrule-Clemente will once again curate the night’s offerings. Our goal is to secure a broad selection of unusual perennials, annuals, vegetables & herbs, shrubs, and silent auction treasures. Nancy will be joined on the auction stage by horticulturist Kevin Wilcox, and educator and naturalist Jim Sirch. The plant knowledge these three hold could fill volumes!

Members: please be aware that plant donations from private gardens will no longer be accepted due to the spread of Asian jumping worms—an invasive pest that can destroy entire beds in a matter of weeks. Houseplants are acceptable. If you are a home gardener and feel you have a specimen that may be of interest, please email the Auction Committee to discuss.

Proceeds from the evening provide scholarships to Plant Science students at the University of Connecticut (since 1959), and Naugatuck Valley Community College (since 2011). In addition, funds in excess of our scholarship commitments will spill over to a new civic grants program named CT Hort Cares that was started this year. Cares grants will support plant science educational efforts in communities and schools across our state. Mini-grants of up to $500 are available and will be distributed in mid-May. Since the school year starting Sept 2000, CT Hort has given away $175,700 to 82 recipients, with some students receiving more than one scholarship.

To maximize the amount we contribute to these worthwhile efforts, we’ll be charging a modest $5 admission fee. Please come join in the fun! For additional information or questions please email [email protected].