Secrest Arboretum’s Fall Plant Sale Is Saturday

WOOSTER, Ohio — Secrest Arboretum is holding its annual Autumn Discovery Day fundraising plant sale from 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday. Featured will be more than 100 different types of trees and shrubs, many of them unusual or hard to find commercially. Admission is free and open to the public.

There’s also a presale for members of the Friends of Secrest Arboretum from 3 to 4 p.m. this Friday.

The arboretum is at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave. in Wooster, about 60 miles south of Cleveland.

The center is part of The Ohio State University and its College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

The event is the arboretum’s second-biggest fundraiser of the year, said Paul Snyder, who works there as a program assistant.

Plants plus experts and advice

“But it’s more than a sale,” he said. “You’ll also have opportunities to ask questions of our experts, who are staff and volunteers.

“Our goal is to help people learn, explore, wonder and connect with the outdoor world simply by planting something new.”

Good time of year to plant

And fall, especially in October, is a great time to do that, Snyder said. While the top of a plant may have started going dormant, the soil is still warm enough for its roots to keep growing.

“That lets the plant establish itself before the ground freezes,” he said. “It’s less work for the homeowner because we usually get enough rain in the fall so that supplemental watering isn’t needed.”

Snyder said funds raised through the sale will help maintain and add to the arboretum’s plantings and will support its educational programming.

Sale list is online

A complete list of the plants in the sale — from abelia to zelkova, common pawpaw to bottlebrush buckeye, Bobo hydrangea to Berry Poppins winterberry — are at go.osu.edu/2016FallPlantList.

Details on joining the Friends of Secrest Arboretum are at go.osu.edu/FriendsOfSecrest.

For more information, go to go.osu.edu/2016FallSale or call 330-263-3761.