Fall perennials sale set Sept. 11

3:47 p.m., Aug. 24, 2004--The University of Delaware Botanic Gardens (UDBG) Friends group will hold its fall perennial plant sale from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 11, behind Townsend Hall on South College Avenue in Newark.

The annual event—called the “Fall Florabundance Sale”—will include more than 150 varieties of plants. Plants range in price from $4 to $7.

According to UDBG Friends president Caroline Golt, plants with gold and silver foliage will be featured at the sale. “It’s not just flowers that make a garden colorful,” she said. “The foliage, now available in hues other than true green, can give a flowerbed a colorful boost all season.”

Silver lovers can pick up “Ghost” (Athyrium nipponicum), a painted fern with silver upright fronds that adds an otherworldly feel to shade gardens. Native plant enthusiasts will want to check out “Rattlesnake Master” (Eryngium yuccifolium), which is indigenous to the northeastern United States. This plant shows off spiky silver foliage with white flowers atop 4-foot stems in July and August. Ajania pacifica (Chrysanthemum pacificum), commonly called mum button, sports green foliage with silver margins and golden yellow button flowers.

For gardeners who go for the gold, a number of hostas with golden foliage will be on sale, including Hosta “Chartreuse Wiggles,” a golden-leaf dwarf with ruffled edges. Another unusual hosta is “Paul’s Glory,” the leaves of which are brilliant gold with blue edges.

Proceeds from the sale support UDBG garden improvements, as well as a scholarship fund. UDBG Friends provide four $1,500 renewable scholarships to landscape design students enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

For a complete list of sale plants, visit [http://ag.udel.edu/organizations/udbgfriends/].

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