25th Annual Herb and Garden Faire

This weekend marks the 25th Annual Herb and Garden Faire at the Landis Valley Museum near Lancaster, PA. After a week filled with rain and clouds it looks like we will have perfect weather to enjoy the faire and spend time outside in the garden.

Here in the Zone 6 region of Pennsylvania, the middle of May and Mother’s Day are both recognized as a safe time to start planting out frost tender plants into the garden beds. That means that the Herb and Garden Faire couldn’t come along at a better time!

Charting Mother’s Day, Garden Fairs, and Frost Free Planting Dates

The fair is always scheduled on Mother’s Day weekend, that makes it easy to remember and also convenient for the gardener because plants purchased this weekend can go right into the garden over the following week without as much risk of a late frost coming along to create havoc.

I always look forward to this event, it’s not only one of the largest plant sales on the East Coast, but also one of the few plant sales with a focus on heirloom varieties and other rare plants that you won’t often find at local nurseries or nearby garden centers. The Herb and Garden Faire runs from Friday May 11th to Saturday May 12th. The hours are 9 am till 5 pm on both days.

What’s New at the Herb and Garden Faire this Year

There are a couple new features at the fair this year. First Mike McGrath, host of the “You Bet Your Garden” public radio show and author of several gardening books will be on hand Saturday afternoon to lecture and answer questions. There will also be a seminar in the Craft Barn exploring the history of natural dyes and their modern applications.

For more information about these special sessions and other things of interest that you’ll find at the fair, just download the event flyer from the Landis Valley Museum website. The flyer has expanded to include a welcome letter and a map of the grounds with a legend of the specific vendor locations to make it much easier to find what you’re looking for.

Plant Vendors from Across Pennsylvania and Beyond

My To-Do list includes: 1). stopping by the Happy Cat Farm booth to see what interesting heirloom pepper plants they are offering this year, 2). picking up a few heirloom tomato seedlings from the students at Manheim Central’s Ag-Ed Program, and 3). checking out the grafted antique fruit trees over in the Backyard Fruit Growers area.

I’ll also make the rounds to explore what all of the vendors have to offer in the way of plants, trees, crafts, and other items of interest to the gardener. This year’s list shows vendors coming in from all across the state of PA and others traveling in from VA, CT, MD, DE, WV, and NY. If you are nearby it will be a great opportunity to join in and pick up some great plants for this season in the garden!