Help Yourself 9th 'Perennial' Plant Sale! 2022 ORDER ONLINE BELOW:
Each spring, we offer over 60 species of low-cost fruit and nut shrubs and trees, perfect for hedges, yards and gardens, as well as herbaceous perennials. Proceeds directly fund public planting projects. Sourced from NE nurseries and our many garden sites, these perennials will yield abundant fresh fruit, beginning in 3-5 years, over their long and generous lives with careful planting and good care. Planting herbs near or beneath the fruit trees is recommend for their health and production.
Save with Special Bundles - 10 plants for $85, free shipping!
Each spring, we offer over 60 species of low-cost fruit and nut shrubs and trees, perfect for hedges, yards and gardens, as well as herbaceous perennials. Proceeds directly fund public planting projects. Sourced from NE nurseries and our many garden sites, these perennials will yield abundant fresh fruit, beginning in 3-5 years, over their long and generous lives with careful planting and good care. Planting herbs near or beneath the fruit trees is recommend for their health and production.
- Pick up or shipped bare root, 6-18” seedlings at the locations below in May / June.
- Details and payment info by email after placing order.
- No deadline - Spring and fall best for fulfillment, but we may be able to help out of season.
- Pick up: Free in varied locations, MA. Shipping available. Pay with check, PayPal, or card (+3%).
Save with Special Bundles - 10 plants for $85, free shipping!
- Edible hedge: 2 juneberry, 2 black aronia, 2 hazelnut, 2 beach plum, 2 high-bush cranberry
- Native orchard: 3 persimmon, 3 pawpaw, 2 American plum, 2 mulberry
- Medicinal hedge: 2 basket willow, 2 schisandra berry, 2 elderberry, 2 high-bush cranberry, 2 rugosa rose
- Starter Vineyard: 10 Concord grape vines
TREES
American plum - Small tree to 15', flowers, plums in summer. Need 2+ for fruit. 12 ft. Space 6-8'. Will pollinate beach/other plums. Will slowly form a thicket: transplant or cut root shoots. Graft-able with other plums, peaches, cherries, and others stonefruit.
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Black mulberry - Also called white mulberry. To 30'. Very fast growing tree. Cut low every few years for bush or hedge. Juicy sweet fruit in July. Graft-able seedlings. Leaves feed silkworms, cattle and goats.
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Black walnut - Fast growing, spreading tree to 100'+. Prized wood, coppice/15yrs to control size. Excellent, oil rich, nutritious nuts, medicinal husks. Suppresses other plants in root zone.
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Box elder - Ash leafed or 'blue' maple. Fast growing wetlands tolerant maple to 40'. Tap for syrup. Excellent coppice and pollard - cut and come again kindling, firewood, garden poles, biomass, mulch, biochar, goat fodder, hugelculture or daub/wicker material.
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Chinese chestnut - to 50', spreading shade tree with sweet nuts. Need 2+ for fruit. Good timber tree. Blight resistant.
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Fig - Brown Turkey variety. Grows readily in containers taken indoors in winter. Can survive winters with some protection (mulching) in zone 6, or fully thrive in Philadelphia and farther south, and coastal cities. Good figs, easy to propagate from cuttings. Depending on season, one order equals 3-5 easily rooted cuttings.
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Hackberry - Tall, wide elm family tree to 80'. Tolerant of dry sites. Makes a profusion of small fruits the size of peas in the early fall. These have a thin, dry, date-tasting flesh, and are eaten fruit, pit and seed all together, something like peanut butter and jelly.
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Hardy Orange - (trifolate orange). Wide shrub to 20'. Tolerant of dry sites. Very thorny. Makes a number of small, ping pong ball sized hard, slightly fuzzy citrus fruits. Though mostly dry and seedy, they have delicious sour juice, high in vit C. Great as a spice, decent dwarfing cold hard rootstock for other citrus.
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Honey locust - Fast growing leguminous tree. Coppice in orchard for nitrogen fertilizing. Good nectary, edible flowers, immature beans. Pods good livestock fodder and have a small amount of edible sweet paste. Hot burning wood.
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M7 Apple rootstock - Semi dwarf, hardy apple root stock. Mature tree to 12-15' with decent fruit. Graft this year or within 10. Easy, forgiving skill and good root-stock to work with.
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Paw paw - to 30'. Large, soft, tropical tasting fruit. Tolerates wet soil. Need 2+ for fruit. Fly pollinated in late spring. Long lived, and makes divisible suckers.
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Persimmon - tree to 25'. Unsexed seedlings, females bear delicious fruit if a male is present, or graft self fertile variety on m/f after 2 yrs. Fruit sweet, delicious, holds through winter.
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Redbud - Nitrogen fixing tree to 20'. Beautiful, edible, sour red flowers in spring and tender green bean pods in the summer. Great bee forage.
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Red mulberry - To 50'. Fast growing native tree. Fruit ripens red, prized by wildlife. Edible, sweet, and dries well. Like black mulberry, the leaves and branches can be coppiced and fed to livestock.
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Washington hawthorn - To 20'. Fast growing tree. White flowers in spring feed bees, edible, granola-like, medicinal fruit in the fall good for circulatory system. Rootstock for apple/pear.
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SHRUBS
Basket willow - water loving fast growing shrub to 15'. Good for hedge, screening, erosion. Medicinal bark. Use growth for stakes, kindling, weaving, living fences. Roots easily, helps root cuttings. One order includes ~5 easily rooted cuttings.
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Beach plum - shrub to 8', wonderful flowers, plums in summer Need 2+ for fruit. 12 ft. Space 6-8'. Does not sucker. Will pollinate other plums. Salt, sand tolerant.
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Black aronia - Chokeberry. Nutritious, astringent fruit used for juice. Beautiful spring flowers - pollinator favorite. Shrub to 8'.
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Black currant - Very long lived, clumping shrub. Propagates easily by layering and cutting. Aromatic leaves digestive tea, and fragrant, vitamin rich, antioxidant berries delicious cooked or out of hand.
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Black elderberry - shrub to 10'. Prefers moist soil and full sun. Edible and medicinal flowers and fruits (must be cooked.)
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Chokecherry - shrubby tree to 12'. Beautiful late spring flowers, late summer sweet, tart and mildly astringent fruit. Medicinal bark.
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Goji berries - Shrub to 6'. Self fertile. Nightshade family. Medicinal and neutraceutical berries full of antioxidants. Edible leaves support gut health.
OUT OF STOCK |
Hazelnut - American species. Seedlings. Excellent hedge. Need 2+ for nuts. Space 5-10'. Good source of coppice wood for kindling, fences, tool handles.
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High-bush cranberry - Seedlings. Shrub to 10'. Opposite, maple like leaves. Large, white, umbel flowers and bunches of very tart red berries. Single seed. Decent, vitamin rich syrup in late fall.
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Honeyberry - Haskap. Honeysuckle family, ripe early (May/June), oval fruit, tastes like a tart blueberry. Very cold hardy. Needs a pollinating partner. If getting 1+, you'll get 50/50 mix of varieties for best pollination. Exceptionally cold hardy.
OUT OF STOCK |
Juneberry - Serviceberry (A. alnifolia). Shrub to 10'. Space 5-8'. Delicious, fruity, sweet berries with cherry / almond flavor. Excellent fresh or dried.
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Nannyberry - shrubby tree, delicious raisin/banana tasting fruits. 20 ft., medicinal bark. Space 10'. Wetlands and part shade tolerant.
OUT OF STOCK |
Red osier dogwood - Native, long lived perennial shrub to 10'. White flowers feed bees, fruit loved by birds. Bark old time after-dinner smoke. Slowly suckers. New growth is attractive, smooth and red, used as coppice for wicker and basketry.
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Rugosa (beach) rose - thorny shrub, pink flowers, edible and medicinal hips and flowers. Spreading shrub to 6'. Tolerant of sand, salt. Good for roadsides.
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Seaberry - (assorted varieties inc. Ann, Mary, Leikora). Slowly spreading, nitrogen fixing thorny shrub to 10'. Leaves look like rosemary. Female plants loaded in late summer with small, tic-tac sized sour orange fruit that are incredibly nutritious. Need a male to pollinate, will supply enough males with each order. OUT OF STOCK
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Siberian pea shrub - legume family shrub to 12'. Edible, profuse yellow flowers, immature bean pods and dried (cooked) beans. Excellent chicken fodder. Good nitrogen fixer for orchards and hedges.
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Wetlands rose - Clumping native perennial, brambly rose to 5'. Tolerant of wet edges. Small, modest flowers used medicinally for heart medicine as are vitamin rich, small rose hips. Spreads slowly.
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VINES
Chinese yam / Shan yao / Cinnamon vine. Wild yam family, herbaceous vining perennial to 10' in the NE. Edible, pea sized air potatoes, delicious and medicinal (digestive system tonic) edible taproot. 5 aerial tubers.
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Concord grape - Hardy heirloom, New England native. Vine to 20', prune annually to 6-8' for best production. Leaves pickled or cooked veggie. Yields root-able cuttings as pruned.
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Hops - vigorous vine to 15'. Medicinal flowers used for bittering beer, nutritious, edible shoots in spring as cooked greens.
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Schisandra berry - Five flavor berry. Fast growing, abundantly productive climbing vine to 10'. Used as adaptogen, kidney tonic, energizing herb with all five flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy. Need 2+ for pollination.
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HERBS
Anise hyssop - Mint family nectary to 6'. Purple blossoms feed bees. Flowers and leaves have sweet, licorice flavor good in tea or salads. Medicinal digestive aid, and mild sweetener. Kid favorite.
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Apple mint - Fast spreading, tall, hardcore mint to 3'. Fuzzy leaves and stems with mild flavor. Excellent bee forage, and amazing ground cover for mature orchards. Requires ongoing control in the garden. Dead stalks good kindling.
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Bee balm - Clumping flowering ground cover to 3'. Mint family. Edible spicy leaves, sweet flowers. Used medicinally for digestive complaints and bee stings. Excellent nectary plant.
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Catnip - Bee friendly, mint family herb to 3'. Slowly clumps and spreads. Medicinal, calming, mildly sedating tea. Good for anxiety, stomach ailments, and deep, dreamy sleep.
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Comfrey - Clumping herb to 3'. Nutrient accumulator par excellence. Bee forage, deep medicinal roots and leaves for injury and bone healing. Tasty flowers. Compost tea, livestock food. Plant 2-3 under mature fruit trees at drip line. Tenacious taproot.
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Chinese motherwort / Yi mu cao - Self seeding biennial to 6'. Fragrant, small blossoms are the delight of bees and many pollinators, which will form traffic jams to get to them. Used medicinally.
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Chinese (garlic) chives, jiu cai 韭菜 - Spreading perennial. Juicy, mild, garlic-y flat bladed leaves. Edible flowers. Seed easily collected. Excellent culinary herb, and like other onion family plants, reduces fruit eating pests.
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Cup plant / Silphium - Attractive, uncommon herbaceous wildflower to 7'. Yellow flowers feed many pollinators and cup-like leaves hold water, attracting birds and insects which drink and bathe in summer. Birds love the seeds in the fall. Expansive.
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Day lily - Attractive orange flowers. Many parts edible: cooked greens under 8", cooked small potato like roots, cooked flower buds, raw, cooked or dry flowers. Common vegetable in China.
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Dwarf comfrey - Bee forage, clumping perennial to 18" with shorter taproot than S. officinalis. Easy to control. Likewise medicinal. Clusters of sweet white flowers. Good for smaller fruit trees and polycultures.
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Egyptian walking onion - Clumping and walking perennial onion to 3'. Edible bulbs, scallion like greens, mild tasting flowers and onion sets. Easy to establish patches. Pest confuser.
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Elecampane - Perennial flowering herb to 6'. Yellow flowers attract pollinators. Fragrant, spicy root medicine for respiratory system. Small, wind-spread seeds disperse locally in garden. Easily pulled babies make good mulch.
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Giant chickweed - Fast growing, mat forming ground cover to 2'. Climbs a little. Profoundly nutritious, good in and out for skin complaints and burns. High in vitamins with mild, cucumber like taste. Small white flowers bee fav. Dies back midsummer, profuse spring and fall.
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Giant solomon's seal - Spreading ground cover to 2' high. Subtle flowers feed bees in late spring. Edible shoots like asparagus, medicinal and edible roots taste like sweet potato, used for arthritis.
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Golden groundsel - Ground cover to 2'. Thick mats of medium sized green leaves, with dense, bushy yellow flowers. Great pollinator and thick groundcover.
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Horsetail - Scouring rush. 100 million year old group of silica rich, colony forming herbs. Amazing nutritive herb for bone and connective tissue health and repair. Best extracted with vinegar. Polishes metal. Wetland tolerant, dense groundcover.
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Fuki - Japenese giant butterbur. Shade loving massive relative of coltsfoot with interesting spring flowers and large 3' leaves. Edible (cooked) stems. Spreads widely with runners, but easy to control in a garden. Not recommended for wild areas.
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Ground ivy - Mint family, creeping and fast spreading groundcover. Ideal for orchards and forest gardens. Shade or sun tolerant. Excellent bee forage, edible greens and flowers, and good mineral rich, slightly calming medicine.
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Groundnut - Bean family herbaceous, native perennial vine to 8'. Slowly forms small, ping-pong ball sized edible (cooked) tubers. Nitrogen fixing. Beautiful flowers.
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Mayapple - Spreading, native colony forming wildflower to 2'. Thrives in moist shade. Makes lime-sized fruit in mid summer, which is TOXIC until fully ripe and fallen from the plant.
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Sunchoke - (Jerusalem artichoke) spreading, productive sunflower tuber. To 10' ('Stampede' and 'red fuseau' varieties available). Highly productive, stalks good mulch, late summer flower. One pot of ~5 tubers.
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Tansy - Clumping flowering ground cover to 3'. Excellent bee forage, fragrant leaves used to preserve fruits, medicinal. Dead stocks good kindling.
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Turkish mint (Tüylü nane) - Mentha longifolia, European horsemint. Peppermint like flavor, repels rodents, antiseptic, digestive. Antiasthmatic, stimulant, good for fevers and headaches. Collected wild in Haciköy, Turkey 2015.
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Sweet flag - Calamus. Arum family perennial herb tolerant of standing water and wetlands. Desires full sun. Very aromatic roots and leaves like ginger, pine and lemon all at once. Stimulating, antibacterial, antiviral, respiratory infection healing, mental fog clearing. Makes great candies and syrups.
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Alpine strawberry - Fast growing, attractive short ground cover. Excellent around fruit trees. Spring flowers and small red fruit in summer. Leaves used as tea. Collected wild in Quebec.
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Yarrow - Fast growing, attractive knee high ground cover. Amazing bee forage. Fragrant antibacterial herbs and flowers used in medicine. They stop bleeding, assist with cleansing through sweating, and help fevers.
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Discount stock from Tripple Brook Farm nursery:
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Pick up locations:
NOTE: THE TREES WILL ARRIVE BARE ROOT, WITHOUT SOIL OR POTS. If you don't intend to plant them right away, please consult these resources regarding their care. They will survive some weeks without planting, but will need care! Link: How to plant bare root trees (ArborDay.org) Link: Caring for bare root stock (Lawyer Nursery) |
For inquiries and to order by email: helpyourselfnoho@gmail.com
