Saturday, May 7th on rather short notice, I went to the annual Freinds of the Oak Park Conservatory Herb Sale. The sale is in its 23rd year and since I moved to Illinois about 22 years ago, I have been to this show almost as many years as it has existed. When My freinds and I first started going one had to wait outside in a line for it to open. We would bring herb tea and scones and have a picnic on the sidewalk. Then they allowed members to come a day ahead and the line got much shorter. Normally my friends and I shop on member day, but this year I was teaching so we went on Saturday.
The shopping is wonderful and the herbs, many of which are raised by volunteers, are very well cared for. The variety was not as extensive as in years past for things out of the ordinary. I remember this was the show where I bought my Pineapple Mint and Peruvian Sage in the past, but the most exotic herb I got this year was a Pineapple Sage and a new ornamental oregano that is also edible but had showy yellow green leaves which will make it look great in the patio boxes.
Here are some images of the shopping experience:
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| Everything is labeled above and lots of volunteers around to help. |
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| Lavender! |
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| Curly Parsley |
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| Mint (forgot which one, might be chocolate mint) |
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| This Scented geranium was so cute I had to buy it! |
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| The checkout area (new two years ago) |
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| My very helpful cashier Alice! |
It was a great event, I had a good time and you cnd just see my purchases down in the left hand corner of this photo. That tall thing being my lemon verbena!
Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh
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