If your mother enjoys hands-on gardening or simply surrounding herself with beautiful flowers, you’re in luck this Mother’s Day.

The Morris Arboretum’s annual Plant Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the brand new Horticulture Center at Bloomfield Farm. The Arboretum, part of the University of Pennsylvania, is offering an array of unusual and hard-to-find plants –- colorful annuals, tasty selections of vegetables and herbs and an exciting selection of succulents –- as well as expert advice from the horticulture staff.

The wide selection of perennials will include roses and rhododendrons not widely available at local retailers. Grown by Philadelphia-area nurseries familiar with regional climate and soils, the Arboretum’s selections are well suited to thrive in the Philadelphia area.

On Friday, May 7, the Arboretum will hold a members-only Plant Sale preview. Anyone who joins the Arboretum before or during the sale is also eligible to receive member benefits.

The Horticulture Center at Bloomfield Farm is located across the street from the public garden. Plant-buyers will be among the first to view the newly completed complex, which uses modern sustainable energy and water management technologies and was built to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the highest rating of the U.S. Green Building Council.

“The Horticulture Center is an exciting, functioning exhibit on the best sustainable practices in both architecture and landscape architecture,” says Arboretum Director Paul Meyer. “As an environmental institution, it is important that we not only talk the talk, but also walk the walk.

“The building is proving to be highly functional and supportive of staff operations,” he continues. “But as we celebrate the building's practical attributes, it is also important to think of the whole building complex as an exhibit in architectural sustainability.”

For more information on the Plant Sale or the new Horticulture Center, call 215-247-5777 or click here.