by Cheryl Marino, CT Hort Past President
When tallied, the CT Hort Annual Plant Sale & Auction comes down to 500 Plants, 125 members and friends, 40 donors, 35 trips to nurseries, 28 volunteers, and three auctioneers. Which means record sales of more than $10,000 to fund our Scholarship and Cares Grants programs!
The afternoon of the Plant Sale and Auction started outside Bethany Covenant Church, where plants were priced and separated to be auctioned, sold or featured at the silent auction table.
Volunteers pulled up to unload their vehicles in a systematic frenzy, as plants were evaluated, then carried to their sale destination. Meanwhile, the team of set-up volunteers readied the room arrangement. Our kitchen crew carried the food and supplies through the commotion to ready the spread of delicious offerings.
At 6:30pm, the doors opened up and people milled around the plants, spying treasures they wanted. And auctioneers Nancy DuBrule-Clemente, Jim Sirch and Kevin Wilcox never disappoint as they entertained and shared their knowledge and expertise on the uniqueness of each plant offered in the auction.
Prior to the sale, long-time member and past president Judy King once again invited volunteers to dig and pot unusual species from her woodland gardens. They prioved, like last year, to be popular with our members.
Featured in the Plant Sale and Silent Auction were works by Ellen Hoverkamp, who sadly passed in 2023.
Auction Coordinators Trish Lyons and Barb Skomorowski planned and streamlined the many varying tasks for two months with the Auction Committee to ensure a successful event. Each year we are humbled by the generosity of our donors who are listed below; please, remember these organizations as you procure your garden needs this year.
2025 Plant Sale & Auction Donors
Ballek’s Garden Center
Broken Arrow Nursery
Butler Florist & Garden Center
Cheshire Nursery
Country Flower Farm
Cricket Hill Garden
Dreamland Flower Farm
Dunning Nursery
E. Draghi & Sons Farm
Earth Tones Native Plant Nursery
Connecticut Flower Collective
Garden Sales
Garden’s Dream
Good Soil Nursery
Gotta’s Farm
Hart’s Greenhouse & Garden Center
Judges Farm
Michael’s Greenhouse
Monrovia
Natureworks
Paul & Sandy’s too, Inc.
PlantHer
Prides Corner Farms
Sam Bridge Nursery & Greenhouses
Scott’s Orchard & Nursery
Summer Hill Nursery
The Plant Group
Tower Farms
Town & Country Nurseries
UConn Horticulture Club & advisor Shelley Durocher-Nesta
Warner Nursery & Garden Center
WaterField Farms
White Flower Farm
Individuals
Judy King
Kathryn Hanlon
Michael Russo
Nancy DuBrule-Clemente
Roman & Terry Mroczkowski
Sarah Bailey
Tim King