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Shop Plant Sales Like a Master Gardener

What To Know Before You Go

| By Diana Pierce | May 13, 2026 |

Garden wagons lined up, waiting for plants. Photo: Diana Pierce
Garden wagons lined up, waiting for plants. Photo: Diana Pierce

Every spring in Minnesota, garden season shifts from dreaming to doing.


It happens fast. One weekend the ground is still cold. The next, plant sales are opening across the Twin Cities with school fundraisers, Master Gardener events, specialty sales stocked with tomatoes, native prairie plants, and things you’ve never heard of but can’t leave without.


Some last all day. Some sell out in hours. All of them are worth knowing about.


And if you’ve been to one, you know the scene- rows of garden wagons lined up, empty for now, but not for long.


That’s why I sat down with Tom Evers and Sis Hanson, co-chairs of the Hennepin County Master Gardener Spring Plant Sale, one of the largest in the metro, to find out what goes into building a sale like this, what’s worth standing in line for, and what every shopper should know before they walk in the door. Laura Irish-Hanson of University of Minnesota Extension weighs in too, with advice that applies wherever you shop.


Planning Starts in July — For the Following Year

Diana: How does the plant selection process work, and how far in advance does planning start?


Tom: We start in July for the following year’s sale. Our perennial grower, a smaller independent operation, is always looking for our input on what’s new, what we think might do well. She works with seven or eight different suppliers who develop new plants each year. We shop those suppliers in July, make our recommendations, and she typically places her orders in August or September. We try to have our full plant selection finalized by late November.


Sis: It didn’t used to be that way. The timeline has shifted significantly. My focus is vegetables and herbs. We carry a solid list of standards, but also more unusual varieties that are harder to find elsewhere. Meg Cowden, a Master Gardener with a serious vegetable garden, has helped us source interesting varieties. And we listen to shoppers! If someone comes to the sale looking for a specific tomato or pepper we don’t have, we write it down for the following year.


Who Grows the Plants

African Daisies (Osteospermum). They make wonderful container plants. Photo: Diana Pierce
African Daisies (Osteospermum). They make wonderful container plants. Photo: Diana Pierce

Tom: We use several smaller growers who specialize in different areas like perennials, natives, annuals, vegetables. They know exactly when to start things so everything is ready for a mid-May sale. Long lead-time plants like begonias go first, starting as early as December or January. Master Gardeners themselves grow about 10 percent of our plants, roughly 2,000 plants, including annuals, vegetables, and herbs. Some Master Gardeners will grow anything you ask. Others have a specialty: I love growing tomatoes; I can do three flats of marigolds under lights. We organize all of that in December and January once commercial orders are finalized.


What to Know Before You Walk In

Diana: What do you wish more shoppers knew before they walked in the door?


Sis: Sun conditions and soil type matter more than most people realize. It’s surprising how many gardeners aren’t sure how much sun a spot actually gets. Knowing whether you have four hours or eight hours and whether your soil is clay or sand. That shapes every recommendation we can make. Coming in with that information helps us point you toward plants that will actually thrive for you.


Tom: We’ll ask customers about their site- is it morning sun or blazing 2 p.m. sun? Is that tree to the east or the west? Some people pull up Google Earth right there. And a good trick: tell us what’s already growing well on your property. If we know what thrives in your yard, we can find plants in that same category. We always encourage people to get a soil test. I gardened for years without one and made so many avoidable mistakes. Once I got the test, everything clicked.


Laura Irish-Hanson of U of M Extension echoes that. “Know your landscape — light levels, soil type, drainage- before you go. A water-loving plant in sandy soil is a plant you’ll be chasing with a hose all summer. And know the final size of what you’re buying, especially perennials. Something that looks small in a four-inch pot may eventually take up five feet by five feet. Read the label.”


The University of Minnesota Soil Testing Lab offers a yard and garden test for $22 - pH, available nutrients, and specific fertilizer recommendations for your situation. Laura recommends doing it every three to five years. It’s a small investment that pays off in better plant choices.


Know Yourself

Laura: Be realistic about the attention you can give a plant throughout the whole season, not just during the sale when everything looks irresistible. August before school starts is when a lot of gardeners go quiet, and plants suffer for it. Trees and shrubs need routine watering for three to five years after planting to get established. Ask yourself if you’re actually going to do that.


Variety You Won’t Find Anywhere Else

Sis: We’ll probably carry 35 types of tomatoes and 35 to 40 types of peppers. Sun Sugar, Rosella cherry, Kellogg’s Breakfast. That's a big orange beefsteak that had an 11-year-old sprinting through the doors last year to claim his. Ten different paste tomatoes. Things you simply won’t find at a garden center. That’s why people come. They want their reliable favorites, but they also want something they’ve never tried before. I get just as excited about it as they do.


The Plant to Watch: Digiplexis Berry Canary

Digiplexis ‘Berry Canary,’ Photo: Proctors Nursery Ltd.
Digiplexis ‘Berry Canary,’ Photo: Proctors Nursery Ltd.

Tom: The plant I keep telling people about this year is Digiplexis Berry Canary. It's a brand-new annual that’s a cross between a traditional cottage garden foxglove and a tropical relative from the Canary Islands. It has tall flowering spikes like a foxglove, but instead of blooming once and finishing, it flowers all summer long. Multiple stems, continuous color, a vivid purply pink. It can reach 30 to 36 inches tall. And unlike a standard foxglove, it works in a large container, that's something 16 inches in diameter or bigger. When I first came across it in a catalog, I thought, how could you not try that.


The Native Plant Surge

Sis: Since the pandemic, vegetable gardening has stayed strong and consistent. But where we’re really seeing growth is natives. We emphasize them because they’re so good for the environment and for pollinators, and there are so many beautiful options. We’ll have 80 to 85 different varieties of native plants at this sale.


Tom: A lot of it is tied to awareness of climate change and the decline of bees and native habitat. People want to do their part. And native plants have earned their reputation — they’re tough, drought tolerant, and adapted to our extremes. Some have roots that go eight to ten feet into the soil. Once established, they don’t need the water and attention that other plants demand. Ten or fifteen years ago you had to go to a specialty native plant nursery to find them. Now they’re everywhere — including here.


One note of caution from Laura Irish-Hanson: “Straight native species, not cultivars, but the species themselves, evolved in specific conditions. In a small suburban yard, some can get floppy, spread aggressively by seed or rhizome, or behave in ways that surprise people. Look hard at the maintenance requirements before you commit. That said, cultivars of native species are a smart option. Current research shows no meaningful difference in pollinator value as long as the flower shape is the same.”


Pro Tips for the Day

Diana with a filled garden wagon. Photo: Plant sale volunteer
Diana with a filled garden wagon. Photo: Plant sale volunteer

Tom: Get there early. The sale runs just five hours and the most popular plants go fast. We track what sells quickly and order more the following year, but we can’t predict everything. If you want it, show up.


Sis: The full plant list is posted on the U of M Extension plant sale website ahead of time. If you’re looking for something specific, check the list first so you know where to head. We’ll have maps of the layout and signage throughout- natives here, sun perennials there, vegetables over there. And there will be plenty of Master Gardeners on the floor to answer questions.


Tom: This year we’re adding QR codes throughout the sales floor. Scan to go directly to U of M Extension resources for natives, vegetables, perennials. We want the sale to be as educational as possible, not just a place to buy plants.


And one more tip, from Laura Irish-Hanson, who has done her share of plant sale shopping: Bring your own wagon and don’t let go of it. “Last year at the Arboretum sale, people were accidentally - and not so accidentally - taking each other’s wagons. Someone’s disappeared entirely. Mark yours clearly.”


Hennepin County Master Gardener Spring Plant Sale

Saturday, May 16, 2026 | 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.


Hopkins Pavilion | 11000 Excelsior Blvd, Hopkins, MN 55343



More Plant Sales This Weekend and Beyond

Saturday, May 16

Later in the season

For the full Metro Area plant sale list: bringmethenews


Happy shopping. I hope to see you out there.

Diana


© 2026 Diana Pierce



 
 
 

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©2026  Diana Pierce  | Photographer & Garden Storyteller

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