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NILES — A local botanical garden and nature preserve is ushering in the spring season with a horticultural event for the community to enjoy.

Fernwood Botanical Garden, 13988 Range Line Rd, Niles, will host its annual Spring Garden Market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 14. The vendor tent will be open exclusively to Fernwood Members from 8:30 to 10 a.m. 

The market – which returns after a two-year COVID-induced hiatus – features a wide variety of Fernwood-grown plants for sale as well as local vendors specializing in unique and artfully grown plant material and hand-crafted artwork for the garden. Fernwood members will receive a discount on Fernwood plant products.

The event is free with Fernwood admission, which is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors 65 and up and students with a school ID, $5 for military and children aged 5 to 17 and free for children four and under.

“We have been doing this for years,” said Fernwood Director of Development and External Relations Elaine Rowland. “Fernwood has a longstanding history of having a spring plant sale. A few years ago, we enhanced that event and made it into a full spring garden market. When people come to Fernwood that day, they are sure to find something to walk away with. A lot of people wait for the garden market to happen in order to buy their plants for the season.”

According to Rowland, a team of Fernwood botany experts and volunteers will also be on hand to assist with questions and growing tips.

“It’s really helpful,” Rowland said. “[Guests] can tell our people, ‘I have a lot of shade’, ‘I have a lot of sun’, things like that and our staff and volunteers are more than happy to help.”

Established in 1964, Fernwood consists of 105 acres of cultivated gardens and natural areas with woodlands, ravines, wetlands, and river frontage on the St. Joseph River. The garden is open year-round for Michiana residents to enjoy.

Rowland looks forward to seeing guests and vendors alike return for the Spring Garden Market.

“I love it, it feels like the kickoff to our green season,” she said. “It’s a kickoff to being outside and a wonderful time to get out to the gardens. It’s something people look forward to every other year. We had to take a two-year pause on this event, so we’re excited to bring it back.”

Fernwood Spring Garden Market vendors

• Hands On Clay – Handcrafted, garden-related ceramic items (by Sandra Henderson)
• Blue Horizon Nursery – Trees, shrubs and garden ornaments
• Whimsical Garden Art Inc. – Handmade glass flowers, bird feeders and wine bottle blooms
• Twisted Lizard Ceramics – Greenman wall pockets, Raku vases and pottery (by Elizabeth Dreitzler)
• Lavender Hill Farms – Lavender plants, lavender bath products, handmade decorative lavender items 
• Glasgow Greenhouse – Potted plants and topiaries