Spring Plant Sale at Boyce Thompson Arboretum opens next weekend; now’s the time for a walk around your house and property and let it speak to you about what’s missing.

Could your front porch benefit from a columnar and well-behaved San Pedro cactus that would welcome your guests with its butler-like stature? Are some of your succulent plants crying out with plaintive calls for replacement from the ultra-cold temperatures they were subjected to this winter? And what about that southeast corner of your block wall where the rabbits ate all of your ice plants on the fourth of July last summer?

These needs should be satisfied sooner rather than later; the window of opportunity for planting before the heat sets in is narrowing at a harrowing rate. The cool temps of March and April fly by in a flash; that’s why Boyce Thompson Arboretum schedules the Spring Plant Sale to start Friday, March 8, with our members only preview sale. This gives plant lovers plenty of seasonal lead time, and gives BTA members first crack at the growing plant selection that is increasing daily as new shipments are delivered. You’ll get first dibs on a diverse selection of desert-adapted, drought-tolerant plants that are sure to fill the niche, microclimate, decorative container, back yard bathtub, or any other planting location that’s waiting to be planted. And the sale opens to everyone March 9, continuing daily through March 24.

Spring is the season of flowers, and you’ll find plenty of flowering aloes, penstemons, lantanas, emu bushes, verbenas, mescal beans, salvias, ice plants – the list goes on and on. Watch for a complete list on BTA’s website (http://ag.arizona.edu/bta) in the next week, once all of our new shipments are received. And BTA members receive 20% off all plants throughout the sale, and 20% off plants plus books and gifts during the first weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday).

Read more on the website above; connect online at facebook.com/boycethompsonarboretum.