seedlings

Plant and Seedling Sales

Spring Plant Sale! Pre-orders are open for the 19th Annual New Haven County Extension Resource Council, Inc. Spring Plant Sale! The sale includes a variety of annual flowers and vegetables, hanging baskets, and herbs.  All proceeds Benefit UConn Extension Programs in New Haven County and orders must be placed by April 15 at noon prepaid by check. Pick up will be: Thurs., May 7th, 2-5 or Sat., May 9th, 10-1* at the UConn New Haven County Cooperative Extension Center – 305 Skiff Street, North Haven, CT (corner of Skiff St. & Whitney Ave.). Plant pick up will be designed with social distancing and best practices to maintain the health of everyone involved.

Access the order form here: http://s.uconn.edu/plantsale  Thank you for your support!

The Connecticut Conservation Districts are ready to take your orders for their annual plant and seedling sales, Each district will have some unique plants for their sale, such as bloodroot (shown above), pagoda dogwood, swamp milkweed, highbush blueberry, chokeberry and many others. There are five districts throughout our state so check out the ones near you for their sales brochures and ordering forms on the link below.

https://conservect.org/northcentral/plant-seed-sale/?inf_contact_key=96613844f2127d3e82fbeafbec4f8ae8

Seedling Sales!

New Britain ROOTS summer program participants with vegetables they grew in the garden
New Britain ROOTS summer programming in 2017. Photo credit: Molly Deegan

Spring has sprung, and it’s time to get seedlings in the ground! If you are looking for locally grown seedlings for your garden, the following community based organizations are hosting seedling sales to support their work. See below for the listing of organizations in Connecticut who will be hosting sales:

New Britain ROOTS:
Thu, May 10th: Pulaski Middle School, 3pm-4:30pm

757 Farmington Ave, New Britain, CT 06053

 

Friday, May 11th & Friday May 18th: Gaffney Elementary, 3:30pm-5pm
322 Slater Rd, New Britain, CT 06053

 

Friday, May 25th: New Britain High School, 2:30pm-4pm
110 Mill St, New Britain, CT 06051

 

Common Ground:
Saturday May 12th, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
358 Springside Ave New Haven, CT 06515

plants growing in a school garden
Photo: Molly Deegan

Fresh New London:
Saturday May 19th, 2018, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

120 Broad St., New London, Connecticut 06320

 

New Haven County Extension Council

Thursday, May 10th, 2018, 2 pm – 6 pm

Saturday, May 12th, 2018, 10 am – 1 pm

305 Skiff Street, North Haven, Connecticut

Check out our two projects run out of UConn Extension that specifically promote local sourcing, both in the Connecticut community and in Connecticut Schools: Put Local On Your Tray and Heart CT Grown. Local sourcing includes local gardening supplies, both for school gardens or for home!

10 Tips for the April Gardener

grass and tree trunk

 

  1. Purchase onion sets for planting and set 1 inch deep and 4 to 5 inches apart when soil can be worked.
  2. Early spring is a great time to spot spray or hand-dig dandelions. If spraying, choose a product that won’t kill grass. If digging, wait until after a rain, when soil is soft.
  3. Apply horticultural oil sprays to control insect pests on fruit trees if temperature is over 40°F.
  4. Fertilize all fruits mid-month except for strawberries- these are fertilized later in the season.
  5. If you have dead spots in the lawn, patch them before the summer heat. Top dress bare areas with a mix of topsoil and compost, then reseed.
  6. Raised beds dry out quicker in wet springs, keep soil from becoming compacted by foot traffic and make crop rotation simpler.
  7. Plant dahlia tubers indoors in pots. Pinch the growing tips when they reach 6 inches to keep the plant stocky and make transplanting easier.
  8. Prune ornamental grasses, sedum, hydrangea, and buddleia to a height of 6-12 inches before new growth appears.
  9. Make a note of gaps in flowerbeds and fill in with spring flowering bulbs next fall.
  10. Sow peas, carrots, radishes, lettuces, and spinach weather permitting. Plant seedlings of cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli but cover if frost threatens.

For more information please visit the UConn Home and Garden Education Center.