Signs of spring: Crocuses blooming, birds migrating and nesting, and the Arbor Day Plant Sale at The Morton Arboretum.

The annual sale takes place Thursday, April 27, through Saturday, April 29, this year, and is one of the largest in the Chicago region. It offers approximately 32,000 of the highest-quality plants, carefully chosen by the Arboretum’s experts because they are attractive, productive, and well suited to Chicago-area growing conditions.

It is also an important fundraiser that supports the Arboretum’s important scientific research and conservation work locally, nationally, and globally. Funds raised also help to care for The Morton Arboretum’s splendid landscape, to nurture its living tree collections, to educate children and adults about trees and nature, to save rare tree species threatened with extinction, to improve tree care in your community and around the world, and much more.

The sale includes perennials for shade and sun, native plants, trees, shrubs, herbs, and vegetables. Among the vegetables will be grafted tomatoes—flavorful heirloom varieties that have been grafted onto the roots of hybrid plants, greatly improving their yield and disease resistance.

An important benefit of shopping at the Arbor Day sale is the availability of roving Plant Geniuses—experts from the Arboretum’s own horticulture and other staff who are available to answer questions and help shoppers choose the right plants for their needs.

To reduce crowding at this very popular event, shoppers are admitted in limited numbers at specific times. Arboretum members get first choice when tickets go on sale at midnight on Saturday, April 1. Sales of the remaining time slots will be opened to the public on April 15. Each ticket includes a $10 voucher that can be applied to a plant sale purchase.

When you buy a flower, tree, shrub, herb, pepper, or tomato at the Arbor Day Plant Sale, you can be assured that it is a high-quality plant that has been knowledgeably chosen and expertly cared for.

You take home much more than plants from this plant sale.