Introducing Plant Wagon 2.0 (Plant Wagon 1.0 was a 2003 Kia Sedona with racks installed inside; it died nearly 2 years ago).

Since I refused to destroy the interior of the new van by installing shelves, I've only been able to carry 24 trays of plants in the van (on a tarp with seats removed or stowed in floor).

V2.0 is a 5x8 utility trailer that I built upon. In the trailer alone I can haul 72 trays (10"x20") of plants or at least 4 dozen 10" hangers.

The picture above is a whopping 96 trays of donated plants from Packard Farm.

Been a busy 2 weeks here at plant sale central, We have met a lot of nice people and sold a lot of plants. Aaron made me a new plant hauler It is a converted trailer that can hold a staggering 96 flats of plants. You can see pics on facebook at CrazyPlantLady for Children's Hospital page It's pretty sweet. We are in to week 4 and doing well. a little behind the pace to make our goal but I think this weekend will be a big push forward.

We had a Banner weekend at the plant sale. This one weekend we raised around $3600.00 Thank you for your very generous support. We had Awesome donations EACH DAY of annuals and veggies from Lori Packard at Packard Farm in Brockton , She donated approx 115 flats of items and 3 dozen hanging plants this weekend alone. I get a lot of credit for the plant sale, but Lori deserves just as much credit if not more than me! I could not do it without her. We got a nice donation from Pleasant View Gardens in NH. They grow the Proven Winners series of plants. They donated 7 hangers and 4 trays of herbs. We have had wonderful volunteers from Massachusetts Master Gardener Association each day at the sale from 11-5. They have been super kind, helpful, professional, knowledgeable, and friendly! They are pretty much going to be there each day of the sale so come by and get your plant questions answered! Of course Marlene the magnificent has been there every day providing direction, spirit and enthusiasm and embarrassing stories about me. It was Mothers Day weekend and for MY mothers day gift I got to have help from my son Evan and my daughter Abby. Plus Mr Crazy Plant Lady Aaron..again someone else who does not get enough credit for all he does to make the sale work. He collects most of the donations, does all my IT and web work, Opens the sale each Friday and closes it each Sunday. Puts up with dirt in the kitchen, my anxious moments about what is growing (or not) and his willingness to embrace and make happen my crazy idea of a Costco sized plant sale. A few pics of a lovely Sunday at the Plant sale.

This is the 2014 plant cataloge for the perennials I have at home and the tomatoes I have grown for the sale,
Not all the plant are immediately. If you are looking for a specific plant please email me mtarver "at"crazyplantlady"dot"org    replace the parentheses with the @ symbol and the . symbol

Woo hoo,
 It is May 4th, the 3rd day of the plant sale is today. Opening weekend is always a little rocky -getting re organized,back in the flow and getting the procedures down again but it is getting there slowly but surely.
 We have all ready had  8 Massachusetts  Master gardeners association volunteers.. here is a link to their help page www.masshort.org/expert-advice  They have been GREAT ! So enthusiastic about the cause and so very knowledgeable! We are very fortunate to have them. And the best news is we expect to have them almost every weekend! So come down and bring your plant and garden questions! Maybe buy a plant while you are here~!

Marlene the Magnificent is back and is giving it her all to help us! She is enthusiastically being our circus barker and drawing in  the crowds! Helping sell plants,helping me do math( HA HA! If you know me you know it is not my best ability and I am likely to give you the wrong change with out her help! ) And being our all around right hand! I was telling the story of how we were lucky enough to  have Marlene find us...she saw a post on Garden Web new England Gardening forum and walked in to Costco in Avon where we hold the sale. She had some pots and potting soil. She wanted to know how she could help..and now for 5 years she has been my cheerleader,sounding board,spark plug and best friend.

I wish I had thought to take pictures of opening weekend..but I have not...I will do that today and share them with you tonight.

We have tried to have a kid project this weekend that has failed badly.... there are just not enough kids coming by... we were having them plant a sunflower seed for any donation.

We are missing our Costco Sing Guru Eric D and will be happy to see him back from a well earned
vacation on Monday so we can get a few needed signs printed!
We need a sign for our super sponsor fairy godmother Lori Packard at Packard farms in Brockton Packard Farm Facebook page is here if you need directions! Lori generously donates 90% of all our blooming annuals and veggies. She is a rock star and we are lucky to have her!
So far she has given us: Pansys,petunias,cosmos,snapdragons alyssum,,lettuces,beets,broccoli,parsley,cauliflower,purple cabbage,onions,pansy hangers,and tomatos we have early girl and sweet 100's at the moment.  Who know what she will donate next? Come by and find out!

We have a selection if perennials as well.. assorted Hostas,sedums,neptas,asiatic lilly, some forsythia shrubs,perennial allysum,bugbane,silvernettle . to name a few. I have 100's of perennials that will be making their way to the sale over the coming weeks..some are just to small so sell now since the weather has been so unhelpful.. So if you are looking for something  specific just comment here or email me mtarver@crazyplantlady.org  and ask!

We will have hangers from Proven Winners for Mothers day weekend..( hurry these are limited) and  the week after that we should have heirloom tomatoes and basil and HOT peppers.
 We are not on track yet to meet our fundraising goal..so If you could pray for us to do so that would be awesome!
I will see ya tonight with some pictures!

Marlene cme down today!! We winter sowed :

ashaleigh tomato
barlow jap tomato
roughwood golden plum tomato
hawkins tomato
rio grande tomato
Italian market wonder
jet star tomato
Morgtage lifter tomato
rideau sweet tomato
Canadian Hem tomato
Tommy toe tomato
wes tomato
dr lyle tomato
emma pink tomato
Casino tomato
grubs mystery green tomato
casino chips tomato
african queen tomato
daniels tomato
 dwarf champion improved tomato
matt wild cherry tomato
saras grandmas tomato

Mimosa pudica
Blackberry lilly
Mexican hat
Globe amaranth

Seeds to trade: The following seeds have been donated to the plant sale and I can not use them. Hoping to trade for seeds I can use

• vinca pacifica x P mix Xmas in July (ball seed)
• Verbena Quartz x P red eye (ball seed)
• lettuce Great lakes 659 (ball seed)
• vinca pacifica x p magaenta (ball seed)
• polygonum pink pin heads ( ball seed)
• strawflower King red (ball seed)
• pansy matrix sunrise (ball seed)
• Vinca cooler raspberry (ball seed)
• cleome queen mix (ball seed)
• grass carex color grass Amazon mist ( ball seed)
• alyssum wonderland pink (ball seed)
• portulaca tequila orange (ball seed)
• portulaca margarita cream (ball seed)
• portulaca sundial scarlet (ball seed)
• petunia yellow pop rocks (ball seed)
• Marigold African Atlantis (ball seed)
• petunia madness mix merlot (ball seed)
• alyssum wonderland purple deep (ball seed)
• slyddum Easter Bonnet lavender (ball seed)
• portulaca sundial orange (ball seed)
• portulaca sundial pink (ball seed)
• petunia dreams burgundy (ball seed)
• portulaca Sundial peppermint (ball seed)
• alyssum wonderland lavender(ball seed)
• impatiens super elfin x p mix bold (}ball seed)
• Vinca:(Park Seed)
• pacifica dark red
• pacifica deep orchid
• Petunia:(Park seed)
• Debonair dusty rose
• pink vein
• celosia amigo scarlet (park seed)
• Cactus ornamental blend (park seed)
• Salvia patio pink (park seed)
• Salvia Splendens Bon fire (park seed)
• Petunia bella true rose hybrid (park seed)
• Nicotina saratog rose(park seed)
• Nicotiana perfume Lilac (park seed)
• Pansy ideal lion lemon hybrid (park seed)
• Marigold Big O boy mix (burpee)
• Marigold flagstaff (burpee)
• zinnia profusion orange (burpee)
• lobelia crystal palace (burpee)
• nemophila baby blue eyes (burpee)

Getting busy around here ..so busy I forgot to post lat Sunday when I planted some more stuff under lights...
I planted
 Mortgage Lifter Tomato
Italian Market Wonder Tomato
Peron Sprayless Tomato
and Giant Belgium.

I plan on winter sowing some more stuff today Like tomatoes, I start a bunch under lights to have ready for May 1st and Winter Sow the rest for the the 15th or so of May. They do not fetch as much money as they are not as big as the ones grown under lights ..but man are they tough little plants.

Thanks for looking. Hope you can help

Thanks for following the link to my blog. Please read the letters below (links to printable documents included) to learn more about the plant sale and how you can help.

Information about Children's Hospital Plant sale

Ways you can help the plant sale

Ok a Sunday to myself and I winter sowed the following
 Gaura lindheimeri aka wand flower
daisy Becky /Shasta
sacbiosa columbaria aka pincushion flower pink mist
rudbeckia hirta aka glorisoa daisy autum colors
matusmurae color purple
babys breath
echinacea aka purple cone flower
carnation chabaud picotee fantasy mix
holly hock zebrina
dianthus baby doll mix
dianthus sweet willam mix
hollyhock dwarf queeny mixed
mimosa pudica  aka sensitive plant
acer palmatum dissectum greenleaf cut leaf Japanese maple
 Then for fun I sowed some more hot peppers:
Moruga scorpion brain strain
orange Habanero
and ghost Bih Bhut jolokia

busy day here at casa de coocoo. With Marlene's wonderful help I sowed  bunch of seeds to go under lights

Mariglobe tomato
Eva Ball purple tomato
cowlicks brandywine
brandywine yellow
pinkshipper tomato
green brandy tomato
mcclintocks big pink
top sirloin
terahune...
warren's yellow cherry
rufus carrigan's mexican pink
liz burt
cheetham's potato leaf
tasmanian chocolate
spudakee
german johnson
ohio red 1884 purple
black mountain pink
norcarlina pink
granny cantrell
lithuanian
pasilla bajio pepper
sandia
thai
cayenne
rellenos hot pepper

Just an FYI: We are going to have the potting party Sunday April 27th.

What's the potting party ? The potting party is a group work day that we make in to a party with food,drinks,music ,jumpy houses and activities  for the kids.When YOU can come out and help me get ready for the plant sale  by helping me: groom plants, pot them up in to bigger pots,and do other things needed to get the plants ready for the big event

This years party is about a week later then normal due to Easter Sunday.So I am really going to need a lot of help. Please consider coming, bring a friend,bring a hand trowel,garden gloves,and your favorite alcoholic beverages. I provide the food, and everything else!

The sale will kick off on Friday May 2nd. and run every Friday, Sat, Sunday in May as well as Thursday May 29th

Can't make the potting party? We could use you to volunteer to spend a few hours at the plant sale helping water plants,picking up donations of plants,or selling plants. Yo do not have to have a lot of knowledge about plants to sell the plants.  I provide detail plant descriptions that cover most basic questions,I try and pair up non experienced plant people with plant smart people.So do not worry if you are not a garden guru, we just need nice people to come spend some time with us,,is that you?! Plus you, as our volunteer will get a one day free shopping pass ( a $55.00 value ) to Costco in Avon MA and lunch at the Costco food court.

Hope to see you then!
Love The CrazyPlantLady and family

just another winter sowing update today I sowed 23 containers( with the help of Angela P! thanks for the milk jugs!)

 I planted the following seeds:
Common Milk weed
Yellow Coneflower
Aquilegia McKana's Giant's
Yarrow white
Heliotrope Marine
Aquillegia tower Blue Light
Carnation "Can Can" scarlet
dianthus fringed pinks
Purple Echinacea
gaillardia Goblin (again)
Hot Papya Coneflower(again)
dianthus rainbow loveliness mix
Hot Lava coneflower (Again)
Tomato soup coneflower(again)

I lost a post on what Marlene and I planted. This is to recreate that list

Triple curled parsley
Italian parsley
Cat nip
german chamomile
winter thyme
lemon balm
sweeet marjoram
bouquet Dill
garlic chives
russian tarragon
lupin blue purple
giant parsley of Napoli
french rosemary
savory
sedum autumn joy
centaurea montan blue
geum avens
lobelia cardinalis red flowers

I know there was more but I am not finding the seed packets and the jugs are under 10 inches of snow so I can't check ... I'll update this when i can find the jugs I know we totaled 56 jugs that day

more winter sowing here today today I sowed:

lobelia cardinalis red flowerd
lupin blue purple
campanula cup and saucer mix
playcodon grandiflora balloon flower
coneflower Tomato soup
coneflower Hot Lava
coneflower Hot papaya
monarda ruby red
gaillardia goblin

I received a seed donation from Baker Seeds in the mail this week!

 Donations so far:

Baker Creek seed company: seeds
Ball Hort: seeds
F.M Shumacker: tree seeds

I am planning a charity plant sale to benefit Children's Hospital Boston to be held this May 2014. I would like your assistance.
I have successfully facilitated this plant sale since May 2009. and raised $33,000.00 Costco in Avon donates the space for the sale
I hope to raise $15,000 in 2014. I am attempting to grow a great deal of the plants at my home without the benefit of a greenhouse.
This year's goal is going to take a lot more plants and I am looking forward to the challenge of growing them.

I am asking for your support in donating

• any plant material ,
  
• propagation supplies (seeds,light carts,trays, plug cells, starting mix, plant tags,,fertilizer seed mats, etc., etc.)
  
• Any staff that would like to spend a few hours sharing their knowledge of plants at the sale.( they will get a one day shopping pass to Costco Avon)
  
• Any items or advice you think would be helpful in this endeavor.. would be welcome as well.
  

Costco Avon will provide one extra large Children s Miracle Network Balloon with your business information for any donation worth $500.00 at retail.
The 5 Costco locations in MA and NH partnering with the Children's Miracle Network raised over $140,000 for Boston Children 's Hospital in 2013. Please join us in helping a great cause that has a tremendous impact on the lives of so many Children and Families.

You may call Shannon Collins, Warehouse Manager, or Carlos Marketing Manager at 508-232-4000 to verify this request.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
Michelle Tarver
508-386-0759 ( home)
774-273-0020 ( cell)

So with the help of my right hand lady Marlene this past Saturday we planted 56 milk jugs of mainly herbs with a select few flowers thrown in . We had to be picky about what flowers to do with the few remaining jugs that were left after starting all the herbs.

Just stopping by to blow the dust off the blog.... WE WILL be having a plant sale for 2014. Come join the fun. pop by the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/CrazyPlantLady-for-Childrens-Hospital-Boston-CMNH/278609422192023 and stay tuned for lots of updates