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:

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:

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:

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.

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: