Sorry for the disappointing news – Chris

Late Friday evening I saw both hummingbirds and hummingbird moths feeding on the nectar of verbena near the Children’s Vegetable Garden. The hummingbirds were very shy, but the moths would let me get close enough to take photos. They didn’t even seem to be disturbed by the flash of my camera.

Hummingbird moths look a lot like hummingbirds or bumblebees when they feed. They move their wings very rapidly making a telltale humming sound and are able to quickly dart from side to side.

Join us this weekend at the Winterthur Farmstand not just for fresh farm products but also to have your gardening questions answered. This Saturday volunteers with Delaware Master Gardeners will be on hand to distribute gardening information and answer any of your landscaping questions.

Winterthur Farmstand

Saturdays through October 1
9:00 am–1:00 pm
Route 52, just south of main entrance,Winterthur gate 2

Stop by every Saturday this summer for local, fresh produce and more. This year, the farm stand has several new vendors! See the complete list of vendors and offerings below:

• Big Sky Bread— Freshly made bread, granola, pies and cookies from quality ingredients, no preservatives

• Maiale— Fantastic, homemade sausages of every kind

• Jubilee Hill Dahlias—huge, gorgeous, locally grown, cut dahlias

• The famous H. G. Haskell’s SIW Vegetables—every vegetable you can imagine plus jams, sauces, apple butters, and his famous corn and tomatoes

• Doe Run Farm —well-known homemade cheeses, and a range of produce http://www.chestercountycheese.org/meet-the-artisans/doe-run-dairy/

• Red Haven Farm — Local grass- fed, free- range beef, lamb, veal, chicken and eggs http://www.redhavenfarm.com/

• Master Gardeners of Delaware— once a month to answer all your gardening questions

• Baby C Farm — veggie transplants, herbs and more http://www.localharvest.org/baby-c-farm-M44160

• Sweets by Samantha — Awesome homemade cupcakes made with local ingredients of all flavors, also homemade lemonade and tea http://sweetsbysamantha.com/

• Mushroom Café — Fresh, daily picked variety of Mushrooms, soups, mushroom quiche, scones and cookies http://www.brandywineriverantiques.com/mushrooms.html

• Andrew Cleaver — array of Summer veggies and fruits such as strawberries, corn, tomatoes, cantaloupes and squash

• And last but not least, Happy Cat Farm (farming right here at Winterthur)—more than 200 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, onions, potatoes, seeds and more, all grown without pesticides

All the vendors will be there throughout the summer. If you would like to receive e-mail updates about the Farmstand, please send us an e-mail at Farmstand@Winterthur.org. We will let you know what will be for sale and will highlight any new offerings. Your e-mail address will be kept confidential.

There are two new volunteer opportunities for those interested in helping with the Children’s Vegetable Garden and the Farmstand.

Children’s Vegetable Garden
We will be scheduling some evening work sessions in the Children’s Vegetable Garden to help the kids keep up with weeding and watering and to keep the area looking beautiful. Evening sessions will be from 4:30-6:30 – tools and drinks will be provided. This is our sixth year offering this program to local families and is a great way for children between the ages of 6 and 12 to get their hands dirty and to get some experience with gardening. With your help we can keep the area looking beautiful and make it a little easier on our little gardeners.

Farmstand
Winterthur’s Farmstand will be starting up in July. We are looking for a few ‘volunteer market masters’ to help open the market in the morning at 9:00 am and ensure parking and setup go smoothly. A summer tradition, the Winterthur Farmstand provides a place for local farmers (and other producers, such as bakers and cheesemakers) to sell their products. Winterthur does not receive a profit from the Farmstand – it is just our way of supporting local agriculture.

If you are interested in either of these volunteer opportunities or have questions please contact us at volunteerinfo@winterthur.org.

Winterthur’s Specialty Nursery Day
Saturday, April 30, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, Greenhouse Area

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to find just the right plant for your garden! We have invited some of our favorite nurseries join us for the day. They will be on-hand from 10 to 4 selling rare, interesting, and heirloom plants in the Greenhouse area. Guests will also have the opportunity to learn about our plans for a new Horticulture Learning Center and to hear about our successful Kids Grow! children’s gardening program. Nurseries attending include:

Black Hog Horticulture
Winterthur’s own John Feliciani will be bringing a selection of rare plants propagated from Winterthur’s garden. Selections will include Mr. du Pont’s ‘Winterthur’ azalea, Corylopsis ‘Winterthur’, and other hard-to-find woody plants.

Happy Cat Farm
Winterthur’s very own farmers, Amy and Tim, will offer a selection of 48 different kinds of heirloom tomato and pepper plants. You will not find a better selection of unique tomatoes anywhere.

Pennsbury Gardens
With more than 30 years of experience growing rhododendrons and azaleas, Pennsbury will be offering unique and seldom-seen evergreen azaleas, rhododendrons, and shade garden wild flowers. (Note: Pennsbury will be selling at the Cottage/Gift Shop)

Priapi Gardens
Always popular at our fall GardenFair, Priapi Gardens, will be bringing a wide variety of plants to get your garden started this spring. The selection will include native and unusual woody plants, certified organic vegetable and herb plants, native perennials, and spring annuals.

Rare Find Nursery
Known for their great selection of azaleas and rhododendrons, Rare Find Nursery will of course be bringing an exciting selection of blooming rhododendrons and azaleas from which to choose. These will be complemented by blooming shrubs, such as lilacs and viburnums, and an assortment of early blooming perennials and unique container plants.

Entrance to Specialty Nursery Day is included with admission and free to members.

The University of Delaware Botanic Garden (UDBG) Sale
April 27-30 at University of Delaware

The Annual Benefit Plant Sale at the University of Delaware Botanic Garden is always a source of interesting woody plants. Their catalog is online at the link above and features a wonderful selection of Corylopsis this year. The sale includes patron and member preview days, but opens to the public on Friday, April 29th in the afternoon and continues on Saturday April 3oth.

The Native Plant Sale of the Delaware Nature Society
April 28-May 1 at Coverdale Farm

The Native Plant Sale is a fixture in our area – the Delaware Nature Society has used this sale both as a fundraiser and as an educational tool for decades. Like UDBG they have member preview days, but will open to the general public on April 30th and May 1st. The Nature Society will have a selection of over 300 native shrubs, trees, wildflowers, and ferns this year from which to choose and, as always, their informative staff and volunteers will share advice and suggestions for your native plant garden.

The Rare Plant Auction for the Delaware Center for Horticulture
April 30, 6:30 pm, Longwood Gardens

Located in the conservatories and ballroom of Longwood Garden, the Rare Plant Auction is part theater, part social occasion, and all plant lovers! The event begins with a live auction and continues with highly competitive silent auctions for scores of rare and unusual plants. It is as fun to watch as it is to participate and you are sure to learn about some new horticultural rarities (and maybe take a few home) for your garden.

These are just the sales close by. If you are ambitious you can attend them all and if you are obsessed you can branch out and attend some of the sales taking place in nearby Philadelphia. The Wired Gardener of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society maintains a listing of regional plant sale for those who just can’t get enough.