Thanks to all who were able to attend Maine Audubon’s 2022 Native Plants Festival & Sale! It was so nice to see you all in person for the first time since 2019. We sold upwards of 3000 plants! A warm thanks to all the attendees, volunteers, and of course our fantastic presenters.
If you were unable to attend, or are already craving more native plants, we are happy to announce that our online plant sales will open today, June 15! Online sales will continue through summer and into fall, allowing you to keep building biodiversity in your backyard. Check the site often as our stock will vary through the summer months.
Plants can be purchased anytime on our website at shop.mainenativeplants.org. Order your plants and schedule a time to pick them up; pick-ups will be every Thursday & Friday from 10 am to 4 pm at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth (take your first right at the ‘Farm House’ when you enter the property). The first pick-ups at our Fields Pond location in Holden/Greater Bangor are July 1 and July 15.
Not sure what to plant next? For mid- to late-June, we recommend getting some trees and shrubs into the ground! These are our top five picks for right now and we have them all in stock.
Top Five Trees and Shrubs to Plant Now
Amelanchier canadensis – Serviceberry. This small tree, or multi-trunked shrub, hosts more than 100 caterpillars.
Comptonia peregrina – Sweet Fern. This small aromatic shrub makes great ground cover.
Myrica pensylvanica – Northern Bayberry. This is a full, large shrub with waxy, fragrant leaves and white berries, which are very beneficial to wildlife, that persist into winter.
Spiraea tomentosa – Steeplebush. The long-lasting blooms on the striking pink flower stalks are visited by many pollinators in late summer.
Vaccinium angustifolium – Lowbush Blueberry. This is a very adaptable small shrub with edible berries and is host to almost 300 species of caterpillars.
It’s also a good time to plant something that our caterpillars will really enjoy so for this week’s Perennial Spotlight we’ve chosen Asclepias incarnata – Swamp Milkweed.
Use our Maine Native Plant Finder for research to find what plants suit your area. Good planting!
