KIM COOK
\nAssociated Press<\/p>\n
ANNAPOLIS ROYAL \u2014 They\u2019re lined up three deep after lunch, eagerly awaiting the 1 o\u2019clock opening. A bright yellow rope barrier holds everyone back.<\/p>\n
An outdoor concert? Black Friday at Walmart? No \u2014 these folks are at the Annapolis Royal Farmer\u2019s Market for the Atlantic Canada Rare and Unusual Plant Sale.<\/p>\n
Nova Scotia is full of keen gardeners, and the late-spring sale has come to mark the unofficial start to gardening season here. Now in its eighth year, the sale was started by horticulturalist Jill Covill, who runs Bunchberry Nurseries just outside town. She spearheaded a community magnolia tree planting project 20 years ago, with 30 different cultivars and over 100 trees, turning Annapolis Royal into a magnolia capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were getting lots of high-season and early-fall visitors, but we wanted to draw people here in the shoulder season,\u201d Covill says.<\/p>\n
Nestled beside the Annapolis River and Bay of Fundy waters, the valley town is protected from the fiercest Atlantic weather by a gently ridged mountain. Locals refer to the area, which lies in USDA hardiness zone 5A, as the province\u2019s \u201cbanana belt\u201d; its relatively extended warm, sunny and robust growing season attracts many green thumbs.<\/p>\n
Rare plant sales are popular in many places where conditions make for avid gardening. The Atlantic Canada sale focuses on unusual flora. About 20 vendors now take part, and hundreds of people attend, from as far away as Ontario.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s now an integral part of the spring season in Annapolis Royal,\u201d says Jane Nicholson, who owns an interior decor store in town and is a long-time member of the chamber of commerce. \u201cIt contributes immeasurably to the business and cultural life of the area.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, on a cool but sunny Sunday in late May, Peter Davies, the town crier charged with announcing pretty much anything official, was in his bright red, yellow and black period costume. He grandly called the sale open with a countdown.<\/p>\n
Soon, the booths were buzzing with customers. Jean Smith clutched a Japanese maple, its slender, fountain-like leaves evocative of the harp strings for which the tree is named: \u201cKoto no Ito.\u201d Friends expressed their admiration for her find.<\/p>\n
There was much exclaiming over discoveries.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh nice, what\u2019s that, Heather?!\u201d \u201cWow, that\u2019s beautiful, Jim!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks, it\u2019s a Troat\u2019s Dwarf Birch!\u201d<\/p>\n Marcia Field, wearing a periwinkle sweater and straw hat, toted a vibrant dwarf yellow yew that caught the sunshine.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a gorgeous deep blue ceramic pot at home; I think it\u2019s going to look wonderful,\u201d she beamed.<\/p>\n Iain Jack, owner of Fernwood Nursery in Hubbards, displayed an elegant Lady in Red fern with red-violet stems, and an eared lady fern that transitions from chartreuse to deep green. Both generated lots of interest, as did a few pots of frothy green leaves on ebony stems \u2014 Himalayan maidenhair ferns, with new fronds emerging in a bronze-pink hue.<\/p>\n Ken Shannik of Insigne Gardens in Halifax sold out of his pink bloodroot early.<\/p>\n Other folks strode off with rare yellow peonies and garnet red ones. Japanese mayapple was popular; deer don\u2019t like it, so it\u2019s good for country gardens.<\/p>\n There were tables full of succulents and alpine plants.<\/p>\n Dave Veinotte of Reo Nursery in Mahone Bay showed a rare Greenwood Lakes dwarf hemlock \u2014 12 years old, a diminutive tree prized by bonsai collectors.<\/p>\n There was even a plant-themed craft-beer vendor, Lazy Bear Brewery from Smith\u2019s Cove. Visitors sampled a stout featuring a blend from provincial roaster Sissiboo Coffee, an India Pale Ale made with local hops, and a beer brewed with rose hips from wild and windswept Brier Island.<\/p>\n ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder
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\n\u201cMarsh marigold!\u201d<\/p>\n