April 10, 1997 Contact: Jennifer McNulty (408) 459-2495; mcnulty@ua.ucsc.edu

CREATE A COTTAGE GARDEN WITH PERENNIALS FROM THE UCSC PLANT SALE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--An impressive array of organic perennials will be among the hundreds of plants for sale at the annual UC Santa Cruz Farm and Garden plant sale on Saturday and Sunday, May 3-4. Hours are 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. each day in the Barn Theater parking lot at the intersection of Bay and High Streets at the base of campus.

The plant sale features a wide selection of organically raised plants, including more than 200 species of vegetables, flowers, landscape plants, ornamental grasses, herbs, and "everlastings," or dried flowers. All plants are proven to grow well in the local area.

Perennials are one of the highlights of this year's sale. A key ingredient of informal cottage gardens, which are enjoying enormous popularity now, perennials have a shorter blooming period than annuals but they offer more sophisticated flower shapes and more subtle hues than their annual counterparts. Among the lovely perennials that will be available are columbine, coral bells, statice, Japanese anemone, blue globe thistle, and cupid's dart.

An expanded selection of medicinal herbs will also be available, including echinacea, feverfew, St. John's wort, skullcap, hops, and valerian. Culinary herbs will include lemon verbena, pineapple sage, lemon grass, French tarragon, rosemary, and several varieties of basil, mint, sage, thyme, and oregano. Six-packs of Asian greens are new this year, including Chinese cabbage, mizuna or sweet mustard, and Giant Red and Osaka purple mustard.

This year's vegetable selection includes six-packs of salad mix, lettuces, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, and enough tomatoes to tickle every gardener's fancy, including early girl, Oregon spring, cherry, striped German, orange sungold, carmello, and golden and ruby pearl.

The flower selection will include a wide variety of lavenders, salvias, sunflowers, yarrows, zinnias, alstroemeria, roses, and penstemon.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Farm and Garden, the sale will benefit the UCSC Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture. Members of the Friends will receive a 10 percent discount on purchases; memberships will be available at the sale. For more information, call (408) 459-3240.

This release is also available on the World Wide Web at UCSC's "Services for Journalists" site (http://www.ucsc.edu/news/journalist.html) or via modem from UC NewsWire (209-244-6971).

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