The 9th annual Plant Discovery Day... something for everyone

Secrest Arboretum's 9th annual Plant Discovery Day -- a chance to learn about and buy a wide range of garden plants, including rare and unusual types -- is Saturday, May 3, at the Wooster campus of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.

Featured will be a rare plant auction (11 a.m. to noon), a silent plant auction (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.), and a plant sale and children's activities, including the OARDC Bug Zoo and "Critters Up Close" (9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.).

Roses, lilacs, blueberries, viburnums and hardy azaleas are examples of the hundreds of plants to be sold.

Blueberries -- represented in the sale by the varieties Northland, Patriot and St. Cloud -- can serve as "edible ornamentals," said Ken Cochran, curator of Secrest Arboretum, which is part of the campus.

Besides tasty fruit, he said, blueberries feature flowers in spring and bright-red leaves in fall.

Other showstoppers will be the fragrant Miss Kim lilac, hardy azaleas of the "Lights" series and the disease-resistant Knockout rose, which in tests has gone three years without spraying or disease.

New this year will be a handful of commercial and non-profit vendors:

- Scarff's Nursery, New Carlisle, Ohio: Boxwood, viburnum and lilac.

- Francis Nock Nursery, Perry, Ohio, and Maple Ridge Garden Center, Concord, Ohio: Japanese maple, dwarf conifers, plants on standards and small-leaf rhododendrons.

- Ohio River Grass: Grasses and sedges.

- Wooster High School: Native plants.

- OARDC Plant Pathology Graduate Students: Heirloom perennials.

- Tim Ebert: Pottery.

- Wayne County Montessori: Food and beverages.

The event is a benefit for the arboretum and its volunteer programs. Activities will take place in and around Fisher Auditorium, 1680 Madison Ave.

Details, including directions to the campus and a list of sale and auction plants, are at http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/pdd, or call (330) 263-3761.