Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the William Paca Garden Plant Sale! On Saturday, May 11, and Sunday, May 12, 2024, Historic Annapolis and the Paca Garden volunteers will open the gates to offer thousands of plants for your shopping pleasure. Join us for this beloved tradition, find the perfect plants for you, and take home a piece of history!
Whether you have a sunny or shady garden, are yearning for bright annual color, long lived trees and shrubs, or need dependable color that will return every year, there is something for you at the Paca Garden Plant Sale. Following the trend for low maintenance native plants? Want to feed the birds and bees? Inspired by farm-to-table cuisine? You’ll find your garden dream here.
Colorful annuals range from demure rain lilies to misty blue ageratum to bold zinnias. For something dramatic, choose red cannas with deep red foliage, or the Friendship Sage, five feet tall and glowing purple. Add another dimension to this colorful backdrop with plants that attract hummingbirds and butterflies such as the goldenrod ‘Red Butterfly.’ Our unusual vine selections include the striking purple Hyacinth Bean and the Moonflower vine, which unfolds its creamy blooms in the evening. The most curious is the snail vine, an intensely fragrant cream and purple helix that fascinated Thomas Jefferson.
Returning year after year, perennials like hellebores, cyclamen, bluebells and woodland phlox tell you that winter has finally fled. Ferns, iris, hostas, and peonies can be depended upon to need little care. Culver Root is a new native offering that looks like white candles in the shade. ‘Dark Towers’ penstemon stands high with red and green foliage and pink flowers. Cranesbill ‘Biokova’ will blanket your beds with deep pink flowers for half the summer. Butterflies and bees will flock to Phlox ‘Jeana’ and ‘Golden Fleece’ golden rod.
The star of the woody plants is a new dwarf hydrangea ‘Miss Saori,’ with pink-edged white double florets. Native Annabelle and Oakleaf hydrangeas are hardy performers. Vitex, or Chaste Tree, is an heirloom shrub propagated from the Paca Garden. It blooms in early summer with lilac-type blooms. Also from the garden, bald cypress and Washington’s Buckeye.
The culinary gardeners offer tomatoes by the dozen, from heirlooms like Brandywine or Mortgage Lifter to the unusual Green Zebra. Peppers, hot like Dragon Breath – or not, like Mini-Bells. A new discovery this year is wild arugula, with extra spice in its narrow leaves. And all the traditional flavors: parsley, sage, thyme, chives, three kinds of basil and more.
Sale hours are Saturday, May 11 from 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday, May 12 from 12 pm to 4 pm. Entry to the Paca Garden Plant Sale is free, and located at 1 Martin Street in Annapolis. Members of Historic Annapolis receive early admission at 9:30 am on Saturday, and a discount on their purchase. Gardeners will be on hand to recommend choices for your growing conditions.
The Paca Garden Plant Sale catalog will be available online at annapolis.org beginning May 3, or printed copies will be available for $5 at the William Paca House (186 Prince George Street) and the Museum of Historic Annapolis (99 Main Street).
Proceeds from the Paca Garden Plant Sale benefit the programs of Historic Annapolis and the William Paca Garden.
