(April 5, 2018) Assateague Coastal Trust will offer perennials, heirloom vegetables, fruit and herbs for pre-order for its annual Native Plant Sale, scheduled May 5 at the ACT office on north Main Street in Berlin.

Pre-ordering is strongly encouraged to guarantee choice of varieties. Visit ACT’s website at www.actforbays.org to browse and buy from the expanded inventory featuring native perennials suited to a range of sun and soil conditions, a bounty of new heirloom tomato, vegetable and fruit options, along with the popular garden herb selections.

“We decided to bring back all the new choices we offered local gardeners last year,” said ACT Plant Sale Manager Billy Weiland. “This year we’re offering everyone’s favorite perennial varieties, and we will offer once again the new heirloom veggies and fruits ranging from eggplants and squashes to several melons.”

The online menu makes it easy to order, with color photos and detailed descriptions of which plants prefer sun or shade, when they bloom, what good critters (bees and butterflies) like and what bad critters (deer) dislike. The site even offers special plant packages, grouping together plants that do well in sun or shade as well as the popular “Heirloom Tomato Sampler” and sought after “Pollinator Package.”

“You’ll want to order early so you don’t miss out on this incredible selection of garden goodies,” Weiland said. “Every year many of the most popular varieties sell out well before the date of the sale, so we strongly encourage folks to pre-order off our website as soon as they know what they want to grow this year.”

Buying early not only ensures that gardeners get the pick of the crop, but it also makes it easier to claim an order on the date of the sale, Saturday May 5 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“All pre-orders are pre-assembled so they’re ready for the old grab and grow the morning of the sale,” Weiland said. “That way, people can claim their plants in the morning and get them in the ground that same day if they want.”

Native plants have a number of environmental benefits. They are adapted to the local climate and soil conditions and thus require less watering, fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides.

They also generally attract and provide habitat for good critters and sometimes deter less desirable ones. Many plants are also magnets for pollinator pals such as birds, bees and butterflies.