Open Garden and Plant Sale Reminder

Hi All,

This is the last reminder of the best sale you can attend this year. Our sales tables are bursting with choice selections and color, if you haven’t been to an illahe sale here at the nursery, the plants are offered at a discount from the online prices. We have a fun scavenger hunt lined up for you this year so plan to make a day of it, or better yet enjoy the weekend exploring our illahe and support local business’ ! Check in at the sale, do some shopping and get your guide to the neighborhood. This will take you on a scenic trip though the heart of the Willamette Valley, through a national wildlife refuge, across the river on a ferry ride, to a cut flower shop and garden, and finally to a winery and plant shop with fantastic pizza and discounts on wine. Along the way you can pick up free plants and also enjoy some suggested sidetrips to nurseries and other gardens. The guide to all this will be available at the nursery the free plants are limited to the first 32 scavenger hunters so plant to arrive early. Speaking of early, there is an early shopping experience available only for members of the Columbia Willamete Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society. If you are not a member, you can join by clicking here and access some great events that this club puts on.

What to know:

Hours:

Saturday May 16th-Plant Sale for the general public 11am-2pm, CW-NARGS members can arrive at 10am for a premium shopping experience!

Directions:

illahe rare plants is located at:

7645 Sunnyside RD SE, Salem Or. At the corner of Jackson Hill, Delaney Rd and Sunnyside Rd.

Parking is available on the gravel driveway in front of shop, or in front of the cedar fence along Sunnyside Rd, or if it’s full, on the road shoulder please don’t block any of the neighbors driveways. You can park in front of the black fence on Jackson Hill road but do not block the gate to the “church” or park inside the fence.

The Gardens:

The gardens are brimming with color this time of year, come and get inspired by checking out the rock garden, alpine frame, sand beds, planted rock walls, and other landscapes. Play the par 3 disc golf course through the cherry orchard and if you throw it too far you can see the wonderful native Sidalcea nelsoniana blooming in the Camas meadow now!

Shopping:

The plant sales tables are loaded with goodies! We can take cash or card, but cash is always king at the home sale. Please bring a flat if you have one to haul plants as our boxes are limited.

The Scavenger Hunt:

This is a fun way to check out our neighborhood, we have partnered with some local business’ and designed a route that will take you through a beautiful part of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. If you are visiting from afar, the route takes you through the Buena Vista region with a wonderful stop for lunch at a winery with fantastic pizza and charcuturie and if you tell them you are on the illahe scavenger hunt you get a discount on bottles of wine. Choose your own adventure to side trip to the amazing Dancing Oaks Nursery, or the beautiful garden Deerly Missed. The route winds up at the historic town of Independance, they have a great boutique hotel on the Willamette River if you want to make a weekend out of it. Click here for a link to the hotel: The Independance There will be suggested side trips along the way to visit other open gardens and some of the best nurseries in the area. Check in at the nursery to get your guide to the scavenger hunt and after shopping go find the free plants along the way, the first 32 participants will also get a voucher for a gallon of Highway Fuels, amazing vermicompost tea!

A special thanks to our partners in this, Elysium Botanicals Vinyard and Wines Buena Vista Flowers, and Highway Fuel

The Plants:

The best part of all of this! We have some of our best plants of the year for sale and many choice things in different sizes that aren’t offered online.

How about this Senecio formosus from 13,000’ up in the Columbian Paramo, that color is unreal? Photo by W.W.

Of course we will have all the great alpines and rock garden plants, and we have Lewisia, Lewisiopsis, Androsace, Phlox, Erigeron, Aster, Mimulus, Diplacus, Salvia, Tuecrium, Saponaria, Aquilegia, Erythronium, Penstemon, Chaenorhinum, Bellis, Townsendia and the list goes on and on.

The garden beds are bursting with color and we have been busy propagating some of the best for your gardens! If you have a trough, or a container to plant, or a whole rock garden to do we have plants for you. Don’t have a rock garden? I bet we have a plant that will grow somewhere in your garden!

Acantholimon and our native Penstemon rupicola make a great pair for spring and summer interest with low water use requirements.

We are excited to see you at the plant sale, send you home with some botanical treasures and hope you enjoy a trip around our illahe!

Mark and the illahe crew