The wait is almost over!
Our 2023 Native Plants Festival and Sale at Gilsland Farm is right around the corner, coming on Saturday, June 17, from 9 am to 3 pm. We are happy to provide a glimpse of what’s in store!
Plants
More than 90 species of native Maine plants will be available by June 17. You can find our availability list here (tentative as of June 7, subject to change):
PLANT LIST
Don’t see what you’re looking for? Additional species will be available via our online sale, which begins in early July and will run through the end of September. Visit shop.mainenativeplants.org to order online and schedule a pick-up at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth or Fields Pond in Holden. Additionally, Fields Pond will host a Native Plants Sale on July 15.
Due to overwhelming success at the in-person Native Plants Sale, we have to delay the opening of the online native plants store while we replenish our inventory. We expect to be able to open in early July. We’re sorry for the inconvenience!
Festival Programming
We have a wonderful lineup of speakers this year.
SCHEDULE:
10 AM: Invasive Plant Walk, led by Maine Audubon Field Naturalist Andy Kapinos
11 AM Talk: Native Medicine, Arthur Haines, Delta Institute of Natural History
12 PM Talk: Landscape Architecture: Process with Nature, Seth Kimball, Aceto Landscape Architecture
1 PM: Plant Walk, led by Arthur Haines, Delta Institute of Natural History
2 PM: Talk: The marketplace of native plants, Shawn Jalbert, Native Haunts
Arthur Haines, Delta Institute of Natural History, Native Plant Trust, will give a talk titled “Native Medicine,” and lead a related plant walk. Arthur is a forager and botanical researcher who helps people explore human ecology, in particular through wild plants. He says, “Wild plants offer a magnificent gateway to real food and wild living. Through this knowledge, and many other facets of our shared ancestral lifeways, we can awaken a rewilding of our body, mind, and heart.”
Seth Kimball, ALA, Aceto Landscape Architecture, will give a talk titled “Landscape Architecture: Process with Nature.” Seth has been practicing Landscape Architecture for 20 years. The natural environment has always been an inspiration for Seth’s design process, as well as a place for reclaiming mind space for good design and a balanced lifestyle.
Shawn Jalbert, Native Haunts Nursery, will give a talk titled “The Marketplace of Native Plants” or “All I want are seed grown, pesticide free, native plants of known origin. Is that too much to ask?” Shawn started his business, Native Haunts, over twenty years ago to make native plants more readily accessible to the general public. He specializes in growing and sourcing exceptional native plants, locally grown from seed, regionally adapted, organically grown, and having a tight ecological fit to the pollinators and other organisms that depend on them. Shawn has a long list of natural sciences related work and volunteer experience including wetland delineation, environmental consulting, rare plant monitoring for the Native Plant Trust, Steward of the Harvey Butler Rhododendron Sanctuary in Springvale, and is a current board member of the Three Rivers Land Trust.
Partners attending the festival include:
Wild Seed Project
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
Falmouth Land Trust
Soil & Water Conservation District
UMaine Cooperative Extension
Bird Safe Maine
More information on the speakers and schedule to come!
