Dig in: Plants sales abundant in the Corridor

Eastern Iowa gardeners eager to dig in the dirt will have plenty of plant options in coming weeks, including one with a touch of history.

Several plant sales are scheduled in the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids Corridor, starting Saturday with an event in Iowa City.

The non-profit Backyard Abundance will feature edible and local plants at its sale from 10 a.m. to noon at the Robert A. Lee Community Center, 220 S. Gilbert St.

Director Fred Meyer noted that people are searching for ways to become more self-reliant and growing their own food is one way to meet that need.

Garden tours of the Iowa City Children's Discovery Garden also will be part of the event.

Dr. Terry Wahls and Roxane Mitten will lead a workshop from 9 to 10 a.m. before the sale. “Abundant Health from the Garden,” will show how residents can maximize their health and save money by growing their own food. Cost of the workshop is $15 and preregistration is required at www.backyardabundance.org.

On May 7, three traditions continue with Project GREEN's 41st annual GREEN Garden Fair in Iowa City; the Indian Creek Nature Center's annual spring sale and the Cedar Rapids Garden Club's annual plant sale.

Project GREEN's event, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at Carver Hawkeye Arena, features thousands of hosta, lilac bushes, perennials, trees and shrubs, as well as garden art.

Experts will be available to answer pruning, planting, woodland and wildlife questions.

In addition to landscaping and beautification of public green spaces, Project GREEN funds are used for the GREEN grants program, with the Iowa City Community School District.

The Nature Center's sale, from 9 a.m. to noon May 7, at 6665 Otis Rd. SE, features annuals, perennials, wildflowers, prairie grasses, hosta, bluebells and geraniums.

Vendors also will sell succulents, herbs, garden vegetables and traditional perennials.

Guild member Nora Becker said a master gardener will be available to answer questions.

Proceeds from the Plant Sale help the Nature Center provide educational programming to thousands of children and to care for more than 210 acres of land.

Five percent of proceeds from giftware sales of the Cedar Rapids Garden Club's sale will go to the forthcoming Cedar Rapids Public Library's green roof educational gardens.

The group's annual sale is 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 7 at CornerHouse Gallery & Frame, 2753 First Ave. SE.

From 9 a.m. to noon May 14, Brucemore's annual plant sale will share the stories of two plants with a long history at the estate, 2160 Linden Dr. SE.

Offspring of the Grant Wood Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata, commonly called snake plant) and Iresine lindenii, commonly called Bloodleaf, and affectionately known as the Bill Quarton plant, will be sold in a special heritage plants section.

The snake plant was given to the last owner of Brucemore, Margaret Douglas Hall, by Nan Wood Graham, the sister of artist Grant Wood.

Wood featured the mother plant in his 1929 painting, Woman with Plants.

The sansevieria still sits in the Brucemore mansion's kitchen windowsill with a postcard of the painting.

Brucemore gardeners note that though generally used a houseplant, sansevieria adds interesting textural contrast in gardens and outdoor containers.

The second heritage plant came to Brucemore around 1985.

Bill Quarton, a pioneer broadcaster and philanthropist who died in 2007, would bring the plant to then-head gardener, Don Novy, to winter in the greenhouse.

Brucemore gardeners took cuttings to use around the property.

Offspring of the two plants will be available at Brucemore's plant sale, along with geraniums, perennials, annuals and herbs. Proceeds benefit garden and landscape restoration projects at Brucemore.