Paca Garden Plant Sale

The William Paca Garden Plant Sale will have everything you need to plant your COVID-19 Victory Garden and bring some colorful history to your garden. Victory Gardens began in World War I to help feed Europeans who were suffering from food shortages. At the same time, Americans were facing shortages of canned goods, and began backyard gardens as a way of filling the gap and allowing more commercial crops to be sent to the troops overseas. To fill your own Victory Garden, the William Paca Garden Spring Plant Sale will feature thousands of culinary, annual, perennial, and vine plants, plus shrubs and trees, all hand raised by Historic Annapolis volunteers. Along with other culinary crops, some special tomatoes including the Micro Tom Tomato will be offered, considered to the be world’s smallest tomato with plants only 6-8 inches tall. In addition to both yellow and red cherry tomatoes, the relatively new Celano Hybrid, a 2020 AAS (All-American Selections Winner) will be available.

A new, fun crop to grow with children are the heirloom peanuts, originally brought to the United States from West Africa in the 17th century and one of the first peanuts imported and grown in the colonies.

Among the annuals that bring color to the garden all summer are Wishbone Plant (Torenia kauai) that likes the shade! And, we have biannual Hollyhocks, Nicotiana (flowering Tobacco), and Verbena Bonariensis (Tall verbena) among many other beautiful, flowering annuals. Among the offerings in the vine category will be the fragrant Snail Vine, which was said to be Thomas Jefferson’s favorite, and Annapolis’s favorite Hyacinth Bean with its purple flowers, stems and beans.

All proceeds support the programs of the William Paca ​Garden. Your purchase will ensure the maintenance of our precious cultural site and its future. Thank you!

To attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and song birds to your garden, select nectar plants and plants that produce seeds.  In addition to nectar-rich plants, butterflies depend on specific host plants for the caterpillar stage.  They also need small bushy plants to which the larvae can attach their chrysalis. To create your pollinator garden, try choosing some of these perennials:

A rain garden is a garden of native shrubs, perennials, and flowers planted in a small depression, which is generally formed on a natural slope. It is designed to temporarily hold and soak in rain water runoff that flows from roofs, driveways, patios or lawns.

For the shady rain garden, try:

Rain Gardens in a sunny area can bring beauty to your yard all summer long and attract both butterflies and pollinators. For a sunny spot, try:

A native garden incorporates plants that have adapted to the local climate and soil conditions where they naturally occur. These important plant species provide nectar, pollen, and seeds that serve as food for native butterflies, insects, birds and other animals.

SHADE GARDEN

If you have an area that gets little sun (four hours or less), think about putting in a shade garden. Shade gardens may occur naturally or by design under trees, as well as on the side of buildings or fences. These perennials adapt well to shade: