The cold, wet spring had taken its toll on the begonias, the bee balm, the hosta cuttings and tomato seedlings, but Saturday it was time for plants to get their photosynthesis on.
As Memorial Day weekend commenced with brilliant blue skies and plentiful sun, plant sales around the region brought in gardeners eager to get their spades in the ground.
“A week ago I would have said, ‘No way can you plant this week,’ ” said Carol Stedman, a member of the Hartland Garden Club, which was holding its annual plant sale on the green in front of Damon Hall on Saturday.
But with the temperature rising, cold nights abating and sun in the forecast for the next few days, Stedman said, people can confidently observe the tradition of putting plants in the ground on Memorial Day weekend.
Certainly, that tradition was on a lot of people’s minds on Saturday, as at least a half-dozen plant sales took place in the Upper Valley.
In Hartland, roughly 15 carloads of plants culled from club members’ gardens had dwindled to just a few dozen specimens by the last half hour of the sale. Manning the cash box, 11-year-old Aleksandra Cirovic and her sister, Elisabetta, “basically 9,” reported that sales had been brisk.
“They’re beating last year’s records,” Stedman said.
That’s a bit surprising considering the weather has broken records of its own. This past winter was the wettest on record in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Boston recorded measurable rain on 20 out of 30 days in April, according to the Weather Channel.
Preparing seedlings for the sale was a bit of a challenge amid the wet, cold weather, Stedman said. But, this being New England, weird weather is hardly a surprise to the garden club, which uses proceeds from the sale to plant flowers in public places around town.
“It’s different every year, but we adapt,” she said.
Gardeners bringing their new additions home, however, may want to proceed with caution.
At the annual plant sale at the Plainfield Community Church, Cheryl Kring Grabe, a master gardener for the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, was dubious about the Memorial Day planting tradition.
“When you put a plant in the ground, you want it to produce roots first,” said Grabe, who lives in Plainfield.
If the ground gets below 55 degrees at night, you run the risk of shocking the roots, she explained. Some plants, such as greens and members of the cabbage family, can endure the cold soil, while peppers, eggplants and most annual flowers will suffer if planted too early. For best results, people should keep those plants inside for a few more weeks, she said.
Delicate though they may have been, the plants on sale looked perky. Just a few days of warm weather can transform a plant that’s been “sulking” in the cold, Grabe said.
“Plants are like people,” she said.
The mood was bright among the human population at the plant sales, too.
In Plainfield, people tucked potted plants beneath their arms to free their hands for homemade doughnuts and coffee, and children lined up to have their faces sketched by Karen Gritzke, who also was selling crocheted hats and handmade note cards while entertaining friends with her stories.
“We got off to a slow start because it was cold and wet, but it all came together beautifully,” said Loretta Weitzel, a member of the Plainfield Community Church, which runs the sale and uses the proceeds to benefit various church projects.
At the end of the sale, Weitzel planned to put any unsold plants out by the curb for passersby to purchase on the honor system.
“Every plant finds a home,” she said.
Sarah Earle can be reached at searle@vnews.com or 603-727-3268.