Garden enthusiasts should mark their calendars as the Paris Horticultural Society will be hosting its annual plant sale at the Syl Apps Community Centre from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., on Saturday, May 10, 2025.
The event will feature a variety of over 1,000 non-invasive perennial and annual plant species including heirloom vegetables, herbs, flowers, trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses and several other native plants, which will all be available for purchase.
Carol Reansbury, co-president of PHS and co-organizer of the event, said that all of the vegetation available during the sale has been donated from the personal gardens of their roughly 100 society members.
“It’s hard to guess how many plants, and what kinds of plants, will be offered each year too because it’s all of our members that donate the plants,” she said. “We get different types of plants each year; so there may be a lot of hostas one year, or a lot of lilies another year, and then we’re also more into the native plants, herbs and vegetables now because that’s just what a lot of people are interested in.”
Reansbury said that the benefit of having their members provide the plants is that you know what will and will not grow well locally.
“All our members are there and so you can ask them about soil and growing conditions,’” she said. “You also have the perk of knowing that whatever you’re buying can successfully grow in the area.”
Reansbury also added that because the theme of this year’s Communities in Bloom is edible gardens, Mackenzie Sheppard, Forestry and Horticulture Coordinator for the County of Brant, will be there with various fruit and vegetable seeds, and to talk about edible plants.
As always, the PHS will also have a master gardener on site to provide tips and tricks for optimal success in transplanting and caring for newly acquired plants, and to answer any general questions about gardening as well.
“They’re also wonderful at identifying plants, especially because we have quite a few that haven’t bloomed yet,” she said. “It’s nice to have the master gardener there because they often know just by just looking at the plant, what they are and where they grow best, and they can help give you advice for creating the kind of garden you want.”
For parents looking to attend the long-awaited event, the plant sale will also feature a Jr. Gardeners Corner where a PHS member will help the youngsters with an activity.
Reansbury also said that if there are any plants left by the end of the sale, anything that hasn’t been purchased will then be put up for auction.
Given that the event is one of the non-for-profit organization’s largest fundraisers of the year, Reansbury said that the money raised during the sale will go towards several different initiatives.
“The money we raise goes toward acquiring guest speakers for our meetings, for a bursary for graduating students from Paris District High School who are going into horticulture, environmental science or agriculture, and for public plantings around Paris,” she said. “We’re usually in pretty close contact with the County of Brant these days because we help plant trees and maintain several gardens in the area, which is nice.”
The Paris Horticultural Society has been up and running since 1986 and together, members maintain the Paris Cenotaph Gardens and the Garden of Hope. As well, they hold monthly meetings with guest speakers, host several plant sales, flower shows and an annual garden tour in June every year.
Reansbury said that overall, herself and the rest of the society members are looking forward to another successful event.
“The preparation for this event usually takes a full year so I think we’re all really excited it’s finally coming up,” she said. “I know that for us, it’s always nice to see people come in and leave with their arms fulls, especially when the younger people are coming in and asking questions; we just think that’s great when we get first time gardeners or people looking to improve what they’ve done in the past, it’s really neat.”
For those looking to attend the event, the sale is cash only and there will also be coffee and muffins available for $2. Shoppers are also encouraged to arrive early as there can be a line up to get in.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
