Master Gardeners Hold Fall Bulb Sale

(9/4/20) ITHACA, NY–Fall is the right time to plant bulbs for spring blooming tulips, daffodils, iris and numerous other garden favorites. To help local gardeners choose bulbs that will perform well here and meet their specific garden needs, the Master Gardener Volunteers at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins (CCE-Tompkins) are holding an online bulb sale fundraiser now through September 23rd.

Gardeners may select bulbs from a list specially curated by the Master Gardeners to include those they have grown successfully, with offerings that cover a variety of colors and bloom-times (March to June/July). The list also includes suggested groupings to meet specific garden needs such as deer resistance, shade tolerance, or ability to naturalize.

The sale includes only top-quality bulbs from Van Engelen, the wholesale branch of the popular John Scheepers Inc. garden supplier. Online orders placed through this sale by September 23rd will be distributed to buyers at a contact-free pick-up in mid-October in the CCE-Tompkins parking lot at 615 Willow Avenue in Ithaca; the exact timing will be announced after the bulbs have shipped. To review the Bulb Sale Sheet and to place an order, visit: http://ccetompkins.org/MasterGardenerBulbSale .

Due to Covid-19, the Master Gardener volunteers were unable to host their own sales booth in the annual Spring Garden Fair & Plant Sale that the group has organized since 1982.Proceeds from this Bulb Sale fundraiser will help replace that lost income and cover Master Gardener Volunteer program costs.

The sale order form also includes an opportunity to donate to a “Garden Angel Program” to enable Master Gardener Volunteers to purchase and plant bulbs in an under served community in Ithaca, with the specific site and project to be determined based on donations received. Each $1 donated will purchase one bulb to share the joy of spring flowers in the community.With questions about the Bulb Sale, please contact Margaret Royall, Horticulture Program Assistant, at mr2285@cornell.edu.

For more information about the Master Gardener Volunteer Program in Tompkins County, visit: http://ccetompkins.org/MasterGardeners . To sign up for our upcoming online class, “ Selecting & Planting Bulbs” on Wednesday, September 16th, visit: http://ccetompkins.org/BulbWorkshop .

Last updated December 1, 2022