April showers. May flowers. Add Fernwood’s annual gardeners’ Rummage Sale to the list of sure signs of spring. The one-day-only event takes place on March 30 and promises lots of good deals on a wide array of garden-related items.
The sale takes place in the garden surrounding the greenhouse (on the far side of the parking lot) and is a nice way to get ready for the growing season.
“It’s just a whimsical Saturday morning,” said Steve Bornell, a horticulturalist and the grounds manager at Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve. “It’s nice stuff, and it takes place in a nice setting, here in the garden, with like-minded visitors. It’s fun. It’s upbeat.”
Preparing for the sale, Fernwood’s staff is cleaning cupboards and sheds to add to the trove, and Fernwood’s members are helping, donating from their households. Even local businesses, such as Vite’s Greenhouses and Tractor Supply, have pitched in from their stock.
“We’ve got ornamental garden items — pottery, trellises, garden furniture, hand tools, birdhouses, tiki torches — just a little bit of everything,” said Bornell. “Nothing of great volume, but lots of variety.”
What this means: While there are some multiples, like rain gauges, or clay pots, because things come mostly from individual homes, there is often only one of something.
This is the fourth year Fernwood has held the rummage, and Bornell warns it’s first come, first served, and it’s the early bird that gets the worm. There are still bargains to be found throughout the day, but the best things go quickly.
Folks can support Fernwood by donating to the sale, too. Fernwood will accept garden-related goods — no pesticides or chemicals —through Friday the 29th.
While there may be the odd houseplant, the rummage sale is not a plant sale. (That is held in early May.)
Fernwood’s fourth annual Gardeners’ Rummage Sale begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. Admission fees are waived for people coming only to the sale, but folks are invited to spend the day and tour the gardens (with normal admittance fees applying).
The art gallery has a juried exhibit of floral and botanical works, in watercolors and ink, produced by members of the Great Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Scientific Illustrators, and the Fernwood Café has advanced from its reduced winter menu to full offerings.
It is open Saturday from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve is located on Range Line Road between Niles and Buchanan. Vist fernwoodbotanical.org.