Paca Garden Plant Sale
There have been some changes to our Plant Sale process this year to keep our shoppers and volunteers safe.
An in-person sale will be offered on Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9, with capacity restrictions and timed entry (registration required).
Registration for entry will open on Tuesday, April 27 for HA Members (Become a Member Now!) and on Friday, April 30 for the general public.
An online sale will be offered beginning Monday, May 17, with Curbside Pickup beginning Friday, May 21.
The Plant Sale Catalog will be available on April 30 for free online and for purchase at the William Paca House and Garden and the HA Museum Store.
A tradition for over 40 years, the William Paca Garden Plant Sale provides the opportunity to take home a piece of history. HA volunteers personally raise over 8,000 plants - perennials, annuals, trees, vines, and vegetable starts - that represent the best of the old and the new. From heirloom tomatoes to Thomas Jefferson's favorite snail vine, from native Blue Mist Flower to the newly developed coneflowers "Ruby Star” and “ Sombrero Adobe Orange,” you will find something here to delight. In addition, we will be offering Columbine, Balloon Flower and Blackberry Lily grown from seeds collected from the William Paca Garden. A new special tomato this year is the San Marzano plum tomato. That’s the wonderful tomato grown in Italy, highlighted in canned tomatoes from Italy and elsewhere.
All proceeds support the programs of the William Paca Garden. Your purchase will ensure the maintenance of our precious cultural site and its future. Thank you!
To attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and song birds to your garden, select nectar plants and plants that produce seeds. In addition to nectar-rich plants, butterflies depend on specific host plants for the caterpillar stage. They also need small bushy plants to which the larvae can attach their chrysalis. To create your pollinator garden, try choosing some of these perennials:
Achillea millefolium | Common Yarrow |
Amsonia tabernaemontana | Eastern Bluestar |
Anemone x hybrida | Japanese Windflower |
Aquilegia (multiple species) | Columbine |
Asclepias tuberosa | Butterfly Weed |
Astilbe (multiple species) | Chinese Astilbe |
Baptisia australis | False Indigo |
Begonia grandis | Hardy Begonia |
Brunnera macrophylla | Siberian Bugloss |
Calaminta nepeta ssp. glandulosa | Lesser Calamint |
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides | Plumbago, Leadwort |
Chelone lyonii | Turtlehead |
Chrysogonum virginianum | Green & Gold |
Convallaria majalis | Lily-of-the-Valley, White |
Convallaria majalis rosea | Lily-of-the-Valley, Pink |
Crocosmia | Falling Star |
Delosperma (Multiple species) | Ice Plant |
Dianthus amurensis | Hardy Pinks |
Echinacea purpurea | Cone Flower |
Epimedium species | Epimedium |
Eutrochium dubium | Dwarf Joe Pye Weed |
Geranium macrorrhizum | Cranesbill Geranium |
Helenium autumnale | Sneezeweed |
Hemerocallis | Daylily |
Hosta species | Hosta |
Iris louisiana | Louisiana Iris |
Iris sibirica | Siberian Iris |
Leucanthemum x superbum | Shasta Daisy |
Lobelia cardinalis | Cardinal Flower |
Lobelia syphilitica | Great Blue Lobelia |
Monarda fistulosa | Bee Balm |
Nepeta cataria | Catnip |
Nepeta subsessilis | Japanese Catmint |
Oenothera fruticosa | Sundrops |
Oenothera lindheimeri | Wand Flower |
Penstemon barbatus | Beard Tongue |
Perovskia atriplicifolia | Russian Sage |
Phlox divaricata | Woodland Phlox |
Phlox paniculata | Garden Phlox |
Pycnanthemum incanum | Hoary Mountain Mint |
Rudbeckia fulgida | Black-Eyed Susan |
Rudbeckia hirta | Black-Eyed Susan |
Rudbeckia laciniata | Cutleaf Coneflower |
Salvia nemorosa | Woodland Sage |
Salvia x superba | Salvia |
Sedum spectabile | Showy Stonecrop Sedum |
Verbascum x hybrida | Purple Mullein |
Veronica spicata | Speedwell |
A rain garden is a garden of native shrubs, perennials, and flowers planted in a small depression, which is generally formed on a natural slope. It is designed to temporarily hold and soak in rain water runoff that flows from roofs, driveways, patios or lawns.
For the shady rain garden, try:
Asarumcanadense | Wild Ginger | Perennial |
Astilbe x arendsii | Astilbe, 'Bressingham Beauty' | Perennial |
Athyriumnipponicum | Japanese Painted Fern | Perennial |
Clethra alnifolia | Summersweet | Woody |
Cyrtomium fortunei | Holly Fern | Perennial |
Dryopteris x australis | Dixie Wood Fern | Perennial |
Heuchera x hybridus | Coral Bells, 'Amethyst Mist' | Perennial |
Heuchera x villosa | Hairy Alumroot | Perennial |
Hydrangea quercifolia | Dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea | Woody |
Itea virginica | Virginia Sweetspire | Woody |
Lamprocapnos spectabilis | Bleeding Heart, Common Pink | Perennial |
Matteuccia struthiopteris | Ostrich Fern | Perennial |
Mimulus x hybrida | Monkey Flower | Annual |
Pachysandra procumbens | Alleghany Spurge | Perennial |
Sysrinchium | Little Blue-Eyed Grass, ‘Lucerne’ | Perennial |
Rain Gardens in a sunny area can bring beauty to your yard all summer long and attract both butterflies and pollinators. For a sunny spot, try:
Aesculusparviflora | Bottlebrush Buckeye | Woody |
Amsonia tabernaemontana | Eastern Bluestar | Perennial |
Asclepias curassavica | Silky Milkweed, 'Red Butterfly Weed' | Perennial |
Asclepias tuberosa | Butterfly Weed | Perennial |
Baptisia australis | False Indigo | Perennial |
Betulanigra | River Birch | Woody |
Cercis Canadensis | Eastern Redbud | Woody |
Echinacea purpurea | Coneflower | Perennial |
Eutrochium dubium | Dwarf Joe Pye Weed | Perennial |
Foeniculum | Fennel | Culinary |
Petroselinum | Parsley, Italian Flat Leaf | Culinary |
A native garden incorporates plants that have adapted to the local climate and soil conditions where they naturally occur. These important plant species provide nectar, pollen, and seeds that serve as food for native butterflies, insects, birds and other animals.
Amsonia tabernaemontana | Eastern Bluestar |
Aquilegia canadensis | Columbine |
Asarum canadense | Wild Ginger |
Asclepias tuberosa | Butterfly Weed |
Baptisia australis | False Indigo |
Chelone lyonii | Turtlehead |
Chrysogonum virginianum | Green & Gold |
Echinacea purpurea | Cone Flower |
Eutrochium dubium | Dwarf Joe Pye Weed |
Iris cristata | Crested Dwarf Iris |
Iris versicolor | Blue Flag Iris |
Lobelia cardinalis | Cardinal Flower |
Lobelia syphilitica | Great Blue Lobelia |
Matteuccia struthiopteris | Ostrich Fern |
Monarda fistulosa | Bee Balm |
Oenothera fruticosa | Sundrops |
Pachysandra procumbens | Alleghany Spurge |
Phlox divaricata | Woodland Phlox |
Physostegia virginiana | Obedient Plant |
Pycnanthemum incanum | Hoary Mountain Mint |
Polemonium reptans | Creeping Jacob's Ladder |
Sanguinaria canadensis | Bloodroot |
Sisyrinchium angustifolium | Blue-eyed Grass |
Solidago sphacelata | Golden Rod |
Stokesia laevis | Stokes Aster |
Stylophorum diphyllum | Celandine or Wood Poppy |
Tiarella cordifolia | Trailing Foam Flower |
Tradescantia virginiana | Spiderwort |
Woodwardia areolata | Chain Fern |
SHADE GARDEN
If you have an area that gets little sun (four hours or less), think about putting in a shade garden. Shade gardens may occur naturally or by design under trees, as well as on the side of buildings or fences. These perennials adapt well to shade:
Anemone x hybrida | Japanese Windflower |
Aquilegia vulgaris | Columbine |
Asarum canadense | Wild Ginger |
Astilbe chinensis | Chinese Astilbe |
Athyrium nipponicum | Japanese Painted Fern |
Begonia grandis | Hardy Begonia |
Brunnera macrophylla | Siberian Bugloss |
Carex siderosticha | Sedge, wide leaf |
Cyrtomium fortunei | Holly Fern |
Dicentra x 'Luxuriant' | Fern-leaf Bleeding Heart |
Dryopteris x australis | Dixie Wood Fern |
Epimedium species | Epimedium |
Helleborus sp. | Lenten Rose |
Heuchera x hybridus | Coral Bells |
Heuchera x villosa | Hairy Alumroot |
Hosta species | Hosta |
Hypericum calycinum | Creeping St. John's Wort |
Lamprocapnos spectabilis | Common Pink Bleeding Heart |
Matteuccia struthiopteris | Ostrich Fern |
Onoclea sensibilis | Sensitive Fern |
Osmunda cinnamomea | Cinnamon Fern |
Pachysandra procumbens | Alleghany Spurge |
Phlox divaricata | Woodland Phlox |
Polemonium reptans | Creeping Jacob's Ladder |
Polygonatum odoratum | Variegated Solomon's Seal |
Polystichum munitum | Sword Fern |
Pulmonaria officinalis | Lungwort |
Sanguinaria canadensis | Bloodroot |
Stylophorum diphyllum | Celandine or Wood Poppy |
Tiarella cordifolia | Trailing Foam Flower |
Woodwardia areolata | Chain Fern |