Green up the garden at Nature Fair and Native Plant Sale

Spruce up your landscape this spring with the Backyards for Nature Fair and Native Plant Sale featuring a wide selection of native shrubs, wildflowers and grasses.

Sponsored by the Davey Tree Expert Company, the fair and sale will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 3 at the Schaumburg Park District's Spring Valley Nature Center, 1111 E. Schaumburg Road. Gardening experts will be on hand to answer questions and provide information on home composting, rain gardens and more. Experts from Davey Tree also will be available to discuss tree care.

Children's gardening activities include birdhouse building with the Prairie Woods Audubon Society, a scavenger hunt and puppet show. Youngsters also may transplant native wildflowers to take home for free.

Among the native plant selections available are butterfly milkweed, cardinal flower, blazing stars and unique varieties such as blue phlox and trillium.

"This is an event we've done for more than 20 years," said Dave Brooks, the Park District's manager of conservation services. "The main reason people come to this event is the plant sale. We've always been advocates for children and adults to get out and garden."

The Spring Valley Nature Club also will hold its Heirloom Herb and Vegetable Sale, offering 17 varieties of tomatoes with rare features and robust flavors, 24 sought-after herb species and an assortment of veggie plants ready for gardens and containers.

The event is co-hosted by the Spring Valley Nature Club and the Schaumburg Community Garden Club.

"The heirloom varieties are pretty unique," Brooks said. "They're interesting to grow, as well as eat. The heirloom vegetables and herbs are not those you're going to find in a local nursery."

Pre-ordering plants by April 17 is recommended. For more information, visit www.parkfun.com/spring-valley , or call (847) 985-2100.