On Friday during the sale, we were visited by a KSTP Channel 5 cameraman. Here’s the result of his work.

Yes, that really is me in what I call my “Plant Sale regalia.” Wearing wool under the t-shirt, and hoarse from laryngitis.

Well, we sold every single plant by the end of Sunday!

Thanks to everyone who came and shopped, and especially to our incredible volunteers who made it all happen.

The checkout line got pretty long on Sunday, but it kept moving and I believe (from what I’ve heard so far) was generally no more than 20 minutes to reach the tallyers.

We’ll be working on ideas for next year, so if you have suggestions, send them to info@friendsschoolplantsale.com.

Everything left at the Friends School Plant Sale is half price today! I walked through the whole sale last night (oops, I have to admit I didn’t check the Rare Plants booth) and I’d say there are substantial quantities of many of the varieties we originally listed in all areas.

There are nearly 200 hanging baskets left.

In herbs, there is basil left but I have to say that at least some of it appears to be cold-damaged, even though it is indoors. (The outside cold comes into the unheated building.) But other herbs are still good-looking and available (gee, that sounds like a dating service).

Vegetables — and especially seeds for some of the varieties — are in pretty good supply. (Yellow wax beans, anyone?)

Lots of annuals. We think impatiens must be waning in popularity because that stock is particularly high. And no one seemed to want to try the large oleander tropicals in the back of the annuals — I think only a few sold.

Perennials offer a wide selection. Not too many hostas, but generally a wide assortment of other plants.

Although I made no attempt to count them, I’d say we’re well stocked with lily bulbs and daylily roots as well. (No asparagus, though!)

There aren’t a lot of clematis left, although there are some in the climbers.

Outside, there are quite a number of native wild flowers and grasses left. Roses as well.

The fruit is also fairly well stocked — particularly apricots and peaches.

Shrubs are more spotty — some have stock while others are gone. (Of course, that’s true throughout the sale but the larger spaces in the shrubs make it more obvious.)

Like all half-price sales, this one gets a bit nutty, but there are definitely deals to be had!

The morning line was a bit slower than usual to build up, on account of the rain. But by opening there were over a thousand hardy souls outside with umbrellas and carts of all types.

It rained steadily throughout the day, to everyone’s misery. (The plants that are outside were happy, though.)

As usually happens, about an hour to an hour and a half after opening, many of the people who came in at the same time at the opening started to check out and the checkout line built up. We apologize to EVERYONE at the sale at that time, because we (for the first time since we moved to Grandstand five years ago) lost control of the waiting line, which snakes around the building.

We know that many folks had to wait what we consider a very unreasonable time to reach the checkouts. (We normally can honestly say the wait at busy times is between 10 and 20 minutes max, but this was clearly not the case for about an hour yesterday.)

We have already addressed the issue for Saturday and Sunday this year, and will (as soon as the sale is over) discuss better systems for it in 2011.

By 3:00 p.m., however, things in the sale were busy but pleasant and the wait was down to no more than five minutes.

P.S. The Plant Sale (and I) were on KSTP Channel 5 news last night. They had some nice footage of what the sale looks like! I’m trying to see if I can get it made into a YouTube video to post to our website.

A brief moment of rest for these middle school students, who cheerfully spent days unloading trucks, organizing plants, and generally getting things ready for the sale to open.

Here is a list of plants we know will not be available at the sale, due to a crop failure at the grower. Though this list may look substantial, remember there are about 2,250 plant varieties in the sale, so this list is a small percent of the total.

As other crop failures become known to us, we will add them here:

Annuals:

A032 Begonia, Orange, Begonia sutherlandii [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
A033 to A036 Escargot, Winter Sunshine Lalome, Winter Sunshine Raspberry, and Winter Sunshine Tornado
A578B Banana Siam Ruby, sub. Red Abyssinian Banana (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’)
A595 Satsuma Mandarin Orange, Citrus reticulata

Climbers:

C032 Clematis, Blue Bird, Clematis macropetala ‘Blue Bird’ [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
C055 Clematis, Vanilla-Scented, Clematis recta
C079 Trumpet Creeper, Campsis radicans

Fruit:

F011 Blueberry, Polaris, Vaccinum ‘Polaris’
F012 Blueberry, Top Hat, Vaccinum ‘Top Hat’
SUBSTITUTE: Northland [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
Unfortunately, Top Hat was the only low-growing blueberry among the ones we were offering.

Grasses:

G006 Japanese Blood Grass, Imperata cylindrica [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
G064 Switch Grass, Prairie Fire, Panicum virgatum ‘Prairie Fire’

Herbs:

H047 Fernleaf Biscuitroot, Lomatium dissectum multifidum
H054 Horseradish, Armoracia rusticana
H065 Lavender, Munstead, in a large pot. Lavandula angustifolia. Smaller size still available.
H075 Kaffir Lime, Citrus hystrix

Native Wild Flowers:

N098 Marsh Marigold, Caltha palustris [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
N111 Petunia, Wild, Ruellia humilis
N168 Aster, Heartleaved, Aster cordifolius
N170 Baneberry, Red, Actaea rubra - three plants in a pack for $6.00. NOTE: N171, the same plant, only larger and more established, is still available in a 4″ pot for $8.00

Perennials:

P083 Bleeding Heart, Yellow, Pseudofumaria alba
P285A Hosta, Bitsy Gold SUBSTITUTE American Sweetheart $6.00
P289 Hosta, Captain Kirk [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
P291 Hosta, Change of Heart SUBSTITUTE Blue Hawaii $6.00
P292 Hosta, Cherry Tart SUBSTITUTE Coconut Custard $10.00
P295 Hosta, Dark Shadows SUBSTITUTE Miss Ruby $6.00
P297 Hosta, Deep Blue Sea SUBSTITUTE Old Glory $6.00
P309 Hosta, Mouse Trap SUBSTITUTE Pandora’s Box $5.00
P315 Hosta, Rascal [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
P320 Hosta, Thunderbolt SUBSTITUTE Queen of the Seas $7.00
Plus one additional hosta: Vulcan $7.00 located at P322B
All hosta substitutes are the same pot size as the cancellations

P375, Ligularia, Narrow Spiked, Ligularia stenocephala
P393 Maiden’s Wreath, Francoa sonchifolia
P404 Monkshood, European Monkshood, Aconitum napellus [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
P431 Pasque Flower, Anemone pulsatilla - purple (NOT the native)
P452 Pincushion Flower, Giant, Cephalaria gigantea tatarica
P472 Primrose, Primula japonica
P490 Sage, Jupiter’s Salvia glutinosa
P500 Sea Holly, Blue, Eryngium alpinum
P520A Stonecrop, Creeping, Sedum haknoense ‘Chocolate Ball’
P598 Daylily, Moonlit Masquerade

Roses:

R004 Rose, Champlain [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
R020 Rosa Glauca
R039 Rose, Sweet Briar, Rosa rubiginosa syn. R. eglanteria
R0026A Rose, John Cabot [added May 6, 12:30 am.]

Shrubs/Trees:

S004 Rhododendon, Finnish - Haaga-Pink
S005 Rhododendron, PJM Compact
S006 Rhododendron, PJM Elite
S007 Rhododendron, PJM Olga Mezitt
SUBSTITUTE FOR ALL PJMs: PJM Northern Starburst, 4–5′ tall x 4′ wide. Compared to PJM Compact, it has stouter stems, heavier burgundy foliage, and larger pink blossoms.
S014 Bottlebrush Buckeye, Aesculus parviflora [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S023 Hydrangea, Oakleaf, Hydrangea quercifolia [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S033 Magnolia, Jane
S034 Magnolia, Waterlily
S041 Raisin Bush, Viburnum burejaeticum [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S046 Spindle Tree, Dwarf, Euonymus nana ‘Turkestanica’ [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S070 Dogwood, Bloodtwig, Cornus sanguinea ‘Winter Flame’ [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S097 Snowball, Fragrant, Viburnum x carlesii [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S115 Catalpa, Catalpa bignonioides [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S117 Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S124 Golden Rain Tree, Koelreuteria paniculata [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S130 Kentucky Coffee Tree, Gymocladus dioica [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S135 Magnolia, Tree-Form - Dr. Merrill, M. loebneri
S136 Magnolia, Tree-Form - Leonard Messel, M. loebneri
S148 Scholar Tree, Sophora japonica [added May 6, 12:30 am.]
S154 Wahoo, Euonymus atropurpurea [added May 6, 12:30 am.]

Rare and Unsual

U005 and U006 Both yellow Lady Slippers, Cypripedium
U007A Cynthia Johnson Lavender, Lavandula
U007B Weeping Mulberry, Morus alba

Vegetables

V205 Tomato, Moby Grape [added May 6, 12:30 am.]

In addition, the following are pot size and price changes:

Annuals:

A650 Stonecrop, Annual, Sedum ‘Fine Gold Leaf’ change to a 4.5″ pot for $6.00

Native Wild Flowers

N063 Bottle Gentian, Gentiana andrewsii. There will be some available in the advertised size (three plants in a pack for $6.00), but some will be substituted with one larger plant in a a 4″ pot for $8.00.

N175 Bluebells, Northern, Mertensia paniculata - POT SIZE AND PRICE CHANGE from six plants in a pack for $12.00 to one plant in a 4″ pot for $8.00 (crop failure on the small size, these are overwintered, larger plants the grower has available)

Shrubs/Trees:

S141 Ponderosa Pine, now $28.00 (decrease from $35.00), pot size the same
S142 Swiss Pine, now in 2 quart pot, new price $16.00 (decrease from $20.00)

Plus (hey, nice segue!) there’s at least one additional vendor at the garden fair — Paramount Green, selling 100 percent earthworm castings, a natural organic fertilizer. Earthworm castings are a slow-release fertilizer that also increases water retention and provides a generally healthy medium for your plants. It should be applied every 2-3 months. (If you’ve heard of worm composting or vermicomposting, this is the same type of compost you’d get from that.)

And here’s a map of the Garden Fair.

Individual locations by number will be posted on large maps at the Garden Fair, but I can list a few of the locations that are already confirmed:

Urban Farming –#1
Dick’s Designs — #8
Two Pony Gardens — #10
Brandy Tang — #11
Cobra Head –#12
Minnesota State Horticultural Society — #13
Giving Tree Gardens — #14
Barrel Depot — #15
Food (Smokey’s Charbroiler) — #18
Curtis Ingvoldstad –#21

Descriptions of each of these can be found on the Garden Fair page.

Over the past few years, we’ve shot some short videos of the sale. Here they are for your viewing amusement.

A Quick Spin through the Sale, 2008

What can you do with a shopping cart and a video camera? (No children were involved in the making of this video.)

270 Degree View of 2007 Sale

If you’re curious about what the whole sale looks like, this video shows it in a slow pan from the west end of the building (looking over the roses) to the north side where the perennials are located along the back of the room, and then around past the annuals to the south side of the room. It’s 40 seconds long.

If you haven’t already seen it, you might want to check out the Plant Sale in Three Minutes video that was posted earlier.

Three-Minute Plant Sale, 2007

During the 2007 sale, we did a time-lapse photography video of the sale, starting with set up on Monday night. Note: There is no sound for the first several seconds, so don’t worry if you hear nothing until the titles end.

Remember, this view of the sale only shows about 20-25 percent of the indoor sale floor, focusing primarily on the native wildflower and herb sections, with the hanging baskets and vegetables in the background. (You can just see the edge of the annuals, and you can’t see the climbers, roses, perennials or shrubs at all.)

Did you know we’ve long had gift certificates for the Friends School Plant Sale? But we didn’t have an easy way to sell them… you had to send a check to the school.

Now you can buy certificates through the school’s secure website in the following amounts: $25, $40, $50, $75 and $100.

The school office will receive your request and send a certificate to your address or directly to the address of anyone you want to honor with a gift.

We all love it when the school bus arrives on Wednesday and the student volunteers run, uh, speed-walk at maximum speed into the Grandstand to start working on the plant sale.

Their main jobs are to unload the trucks, figure out where each plant goes and put it there, water the plants, help shoppers, and clean up when the sale is over. These are real jobs, not busy work! These jobs require skill, strength, speed, common sense, perseverance, focus, teamwork, tact, and sometimes a little arithmetic. Thanks, kids, you were all great!