Staff photo.
Guests browse through thousands of plants at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ annual Spring Plant Sale.
From beautiful blooms to herbs and native plants, Brookwood Village will be host to a garden of over 100,000 plants this month as part of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens Spring Plant Sale.
The sale is an annual fundraiser for the Gardens, which hosts about 350,000 visitors each year. It will be held on April 15-17, with a preview event on April 14. More than 7,000 people attended the sale last year, according to a release provided by Blake Ells, the Gardens’ public relations coordinator.
The plant sale includes trees, shrubs, herbs, native plants, roses, tropical plants, bonsai, bedding plants, orchids and other annual, perennial and climbing plants. There are plant varieties for everything from a potted plant on the back porch to a full garden. Ells said volunteers in the Botanical Gardens’ greenhouses and lath houses grow many of the plants on display at the Spring Plant Sale, while others are purchased from outside vendors to resell.
The 2015 sale required a total of 5,800 hours of volunteer work from around 300 volunteers, according to Volunteer Coordinator Taylor Steele. The Spring Plant Sale is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Gardens, as well as a chance to promote public knowledge about plants and gardening. Experts will be present at the sale to provide planting advice.
Sponsors for this year’s plant sale include Brookwood Village, Winn-Dixie, Leaf & Petal at The Gardens, Birmingham Home & Garden magazine, Buffalo Rock, Brio, Fox6, ValPak of Central Alabama, Royal Cup and birmingham365.org.
Admission to the sale is free and open to the public. On Friday, April 15, the sale is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Two events will kick off the official sale. The first is a preview party on Thursday, April 14, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door, and allow guests the chance to shop early and taste wine and food from Brio. Members of the Gardens are invited to their own sale that same evening, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The members-only sale offers refreshments and early shopping.
For more information about the Spring Plant Sale, to purchase tickets to the Preview Party or to purchase a membership, call 414-3950 or visit bbgardens.org/springplantsale.
Birmingham Botanical Gardens Spring Plant Sale
Brookwood Village
414-3950
- Thursday, April 14; Preview Party: 5-6:30 p.m.; $45 in advance, $50 at the door
- Members-Only Sale: 6:30-8:30 p.m.
- Friday, April 15; Public Sale: 9-7 p.m.; Free
- Saturday, April 16; Public Sale: 9-5 p.m.; Free
- Sunday, April 17; Public Sale: 11-3 p.m.; Free
