WEEKS BAY – The 14th Annual Weeks Bay Native Plant Sale, which continues Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 13-14), from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., does more than help raise money for equipment and programs at the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. It also makes available for sale a variety of plants ideally suited for the coastal Alabama environment.

The sale began this morning under sunny skies and amidst cooler temperatures at the former Safe Harbor RV Park, across from the reserve on Highway 98 at Fish River. Signs are in place to direct visitors to the sale site.

Dozens of people turned out early to choose from a myriad of species, including native shrubs, trees, butterfly and hummingbird plants, wetland plants and dune plants. Experts will be on hand all weekend to chat and answer plant questions.

Maureen Nation, Weeks Bay Reserve volunteer coordinator, said, “It started as a Baldwin County Master Gardener project. They tried to put up a garden at the reserve, but had no budget.”

The first sale brought the needed funding, and since then it has become a source of species vital to habitat restoration.

“We wanted it to be native plants. We have some endangered species here,” Nation said. “A lot of our pitcher plants come from areas that were going to be built on. They’re not protected in Alabama.”

She said all of the endangered plants were taken from clippings and then propagated by growers known to be responsible stewards of the environment.

Among the other species for sale are flowering perennials, sea oats, sand live oak, native azaleas, mountain laurel, oak leaf hydrangea, evergreens, and understory and overstory trees.

“It supports the wildlife that lives here, and helps the food chain,” according to Nation. She noted native plants are a better alternative to the exotic and invasive species that often choke the species that belong here.

Nation said, “You don’t know if that’s going to happen if you plant something that’s not native. When you plant native species, not much support (fertilizer and pesticides) is needed. It’s also a source of pride.”

Many of the larger native plants at the plant sale are priced in 1- and 3-gallon sizes, and will cost between $5 and $12 each.

Nation said all money raised goes toward volunteer projects at the reserve. Among those in the works are an arboretum as well as an herbarium, a collection of native plants of the area. That will require the purchase of bug-proof cabinets and other equipment, she said.

“We’ve put in a pond in front of the auditorium (stocked with native plants),” Nation said. “We help wherever needed. We’ve even sponsored research projects with our funds.”

If you crave even more information about plants native to the area, the Wisteria Garden Club is sponsoring a presentation by Jason Powell, owner of Petals from the Past Nursery in Jemison, Ala. The free seminar, entitled “Tough Plants for the Coastal South,” will be held Nov. 2, at 10:30 a.m., at the James P. Nix Center, One Bayou Drive in Fairhope.

For more information about this weekend’s plant sale or the Weeks Bay Reserve, call (251) 928-9792.