Thirteen Pacific Northwest growers will bring their hard-to-find plants to the Bloedel Reserve’s annual plant sale this year, organizers of the big event have announced.

The Bloedel Reserve Premier Plant Sale is planned for April 6- 7. A members-only preview and rare plant auction will take place the evening of April 5.

The focus of the sale will be rare and hard-to-find plants. Featured growers include Dragonfly Farms (Kingston), Far Reaches Farm (Port Townsend), Naylor Creek (Chimacum), Sundquist Nursery (Poulsbo), Keeping It Green (Stanwood), Chimacum Woods (Port Ludlow), Rhododendron Species Foundation (Federal Way), Foxglove Greenhouses (Kingston), Growing Girls (North Bend), Windcliff (Indianola), Steamboat Island Nursery (Olympia) and Desert Northwest (Sequim).

The sale will also feature plants propagated and grown by the Bloedel Reserve itself, as well as free lectures by past and present preserve staff and featured growers. Food and drinks will be for sale by The Unlikely Spaniard and J’aime les Crêpes.

The grounds will be open and free to the public for the duration of the event. The highly-popular event is a fundraiser for Bloedel Reserve’s annual plant budget.

The speaker schedule is:

Saturday, April 6

11 a.m. – Ed Moydell and Richard Brown, “Bloedel Reserve’s Past & Future.”

Noon – Andy Navage, Bloedel Reserve, “Woodland Plants of Bloedel Reserve.”

1 p.m. – Kelly Dodson, Far Reaches Farm.

2 p.m. – Bob Zimmerman, Chimacum Woods, “Plant Hunting on the Roof of the World.” Take a trip to an off-the-beaten-path part of Tibet and discover unique plants and a culture on the brink of extinction.

Sunday, April 7

11 a.m. – Ed Moydell and Richard Brown, “Bloedel Reserve’s Past & Future.”

Noon – Andy Navage, Bloedel Reserve, “Woodland Plants of Bloedel Reserve.”

1 p.m. – Desert Northwest, “Southern Hemisphere Plants: Discerning the Hardy from the Tender”

2 p.m. – John van den Meerendonk, “Gardening with Ferns.”