2026 Fall Plant Sale: September 26 & 27
This fall we’re having a browse-about sale as well as our tree and shrub pre-order.
WHERE
Westvale (Syracuse), NY
Please see our upcoming August Newsletter or Contact Us for the address.
WHEN
Saturday, September 26, 2026: 9 AM – 3 PM
Sunday, September 27, 2026: 12 PM – 3 PM
PRE-ORDERS
We’ll be taking pre-orders for trees and shrubs from White Oak Nursery through September 20, 2026.
Use this list to see which native trees and shrubs White Oak Nursery offers. Details on how to submit an order will be in the upcoming August Newsletter.
Please note: payments accepted for the plant sale are limited to cash or check.
Why plant in the fall? Click here to learn more about why fall is a great time to plant native perennials, grasses, trees, and shrubs.
About Our Plant Sales
Looking to add more native plants to your landscape? HGCNY’s spring and fall native plant sales make it easy to bring more beauty and life to your yard. Plants are supplied by the native plant nurseries highlighted in our free Native Plant Shopping Guide. And if you can’t make one of our sales, those same nurseries offer native plants throughout the season.
Plants You MAY Find at Our Plant Sale
Photos provided by HGCNY President, Janet Allen’s website; OurHabitatGarden.org
Why a Fall Plant Sale?
Our major plant sale has always been in the fall, generally on the first or second Saturday and Sunday of September.
This may seem odd to traditional gardeners who see spring as planting time. This is probably because so many plants for conventional landscaping are annual bedding plants, such as petunias or marigolds. These non-native annuals are planted in the spring and discarded in the fall, often replaced by fall non-native ornamentals, such as mums.
But fall is a great planting time for plants that are meant to be part of a rich, diverse, living landscape that supports life: native herbaceous perennials, grasses, vines, trees, and shrubs. Cooler temperatures and naturally moist soil allow plants to focus on establishing their roots before winter, giving them a head start when spring arrives.
Of course, this plant sale is a major fundraiser, enabling HGCNY to pay for our winter presentations and to fund our free newsletter. But our primary purpose is to get native plants planted in CNY landscapes, which was previously difficult because there were very few local nurseries that carried native plants. Fortunately, this is changing, and we welcome an increasing number of new native plant nurseries!
Another purpose of our sale is to support native plant nurseries in the general CNY region. Since these nurseries may be too far away for people to visit for just a few plants, we bring them here to Syracuse on consignment. We’ve had great partnerships, beneficial to HGCNY, to the nurseries, and to the wildlife that depends on native plants.
We’ve learned over the years that this two-day event is also a wonderful educational opportunity, with our members talking with people about plants, making recommendations, and just getting to know fellow CNYers who want their landscapes supporting life. And we host the sale at Our Habitat Garden, so people can see what many of the plants will look like when they mature.
Changes from Past Sales
Our plant sale has evolved over time as we have learned more about how to support native biodiversity and protect our local ecosystems.
In the past, we included common cultivars (i.e. “named” varieties) of native plants, but we support the Wild Ones position that some of these “nativars” don’t offer the habitat and ecological benefits of the species — and none of the genetic diversity — so we no longer include nativars.
Sadly, we no longer invite our members to donate their native plants to the sale due to our concern about spreading non-native earthworms, especially the Asian jumping worms. They are indeed in Central NY!! (See Our Habitat Garden’s Earthworm page for more information.)
NOTE: Plants from nurseries are not guaranteed to be free of jumping worms either, but we’re trusting that they are more aware and knowledgeable about preventing them. We strongly urge people to check any plants they buy or receive from other people!