Plant buying tips: Shop local and come prepared

I’ve been training for decades for what’s about to come — the height of plant sale season. And I’m going to share all my tips for getting the good plants that you probably can’t find anywhere else.

Sure, you can buy plants at garden centers any time, but special, annual plant sales held by garden clubs or nonprofit groups often offer opportunities to pick up plants you won’t see elsewhere and often at excellent prices.

And the first tip might be the most important: Set an alarm clock. There are good plants and then there are really good plants, and the odds are high that the really good ones will go very quickly. You need to get there early, and you might even need to stand in line before the sale starts. Consider it a time to talk gardening with the fellow plant-obsessed stranger standing next to you.

My next tip is to consult a plant list if one is available for the sale. Scope out your must-haves and plan a strategy to grab those first. Do a little research to make sure you have a spot to grow the plants on your list. This is no time for casually strolling around looking at plants; that comes later after you’ve declared your mission a victory.

Have you ever gone to the grocery store and grabbed a basket only to realize, as you juggle an overflowing basket, that you definitely should have gotten a cart instead? I assure you, this is exactly what you’ll do at a plant sale. Don’t fool yourself into some sort of self-imposed restriction by telling yourself you will only fill one box. This is right up there on the list of biggest lies gardeners tell themselves  along with “I’ll have the whole garden weeded by the end of the day.” 

Take it from me, whether it’s a proper garden cart or a red wagon stolen from the kids, bring a cart. 

If you’re doing it right, you’ve gotten there early and you have a cart filled with your must-have plants. Take a breath, because now comes the fun part. This is when you get to stroll around, but even more than that, ask questions of the gardeners that are selling them. Ask them for recommendations of plants you should try, their favorite cool plant to pick up at the sale or even the most popular plant at the sale. 

Some of the best plants I’ve ever bought at a sale are the ones I didn’t know existed until they were suggested by a fellow gardener. 

And my last tip — bring cash. Even if a sale offers other ways to pay, cash will always get you out of there faster.

Now that you’re armed with all the tips to be a plant sale champion, here are a few area plant sales to practice at:

• Ozaukee Master Gardeners’ Heirloom  Plant and Herb sale is 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Ozaukee County Fair Pavilion. www.ozaukeemastergardeners.org

• The Port Washington Garden Club’s annual sale with plants from members’ gardens is 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 24 at 829 W. Grand Ave., Port.  More information is available on the group’s Facebook page.

• The Lake Michigan Bird Observatory’s native plant sale is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in Port’s Upper Lake Park.