The Overland Park Arboretum Spring Plant Sale starts Thursday evening, May 3, with a preview sale and reception for Friends of the Arboretum (FOTA) members from 4 to 7 pm.
   The sale is open to the public on Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5, from 9 am to 5 pm. Shoppers can join FOTA at any time during the sale and receive a 10% member discount.
   The fourteenth annual FOTA sale features an enormous selection of certified organic herbs, collectors' hostas, unusual native plants and wildflowers, annuals and perennials, along with lush combination planters and hanging baskets that make great Mother's day gifts. All plants are grown by local suppliers. The sale goes on rain or shine, under two giant big-top tents. There will be free herb demonstrations both days at 12:30 pm.
   Master Gardeners will be available at all times to assist shoppers. You can download a complete plant list here.
   Proceeds from this yearly sale support Arboretum projects. Past sales helped fund the greenhouse in which so many beautiful flowers are now grown by FOTA volunteers and staff for the gardens.


Shown above is just one small part of FOTA's huge plant sale.

   Volunteers and staff were able to burn the Prairie Restoration area at the south end of the Arboretum on Wednesday, April 4, after weeks of attempting to get the right people on the right day with the right conditions.
  The optimum three-year rotation is to hay one year, burn one year, and skip a year. But there's nothing more weather-sensitive than a controlled prairie burn.
   Local fire authorities must give their approval, and the wind must be under 15 mph. In dry years there are bans on burning. In wet years it's either too wet to burn or too muddy to get vehicles in (and out) without getting stuck.
   Burns must be done in early spring in order not to harm newly emerging growth of native grasses and wildflowers.
   Conditions finally came together just under the wire, and a determined group of hard working folks got the job done.