Annual Plant Sale

Every year, we hold 3 guaranteed annual events, in this order:

• Free Seed Exchange (First Thursday in March)

• Monthly Herb Walks (The last Wednesday of every month, starts in April and ends in September)

• Annual Plant Sale (First Thursday in May)

Free Seed Exchange

Our Free Seed Exchange event occurs on the first Thursday of March, which is also paired with the Blair Lady’s Day Out event, meaning our retail items are 10% off for all in-person purchases. The Lady’s Day Out pricing isn’t just for ladies only, the fellas benefit from this sale too! The Seed Exchange is a rain or shine event and is basically an all-day event – starting around 10:00 AM running until 5:00 (close).

This event has a take-some, leave-some rule where participants are encouraged to bring their own self-saved or extra store-bought seeds in exchange for what other participants have brought in. Thus the “leave some of your own seed and take someone else’s new seed home with you” vibe. All we ask is that you have your seeds appropriately bagged and labeled for other participants to understand how to treat the seed for growing, for example:

• Common Name “Pleurisy or Butterfly Weed”
• Scientific Name “Asclepias tuberosa”
• Harvest Date 11-11-21 and any other information that you may feel pertinent to the grower such as “cold-stratification 60 days”.
  • It does not need to be this complicated, it can also be something like “Butterfly Mix, sow in late Fall”.

All types of seeds are encouraged to be brought in – native, medicinal, culinary, vegetable, pollinator-friendly, herbal, flowering, exotic…all seeds are welcome! All we ask is no live or bare-root plants.

Monthly Herb Walks

This event is a favorite for new Herbalists, continuing education Herbalists, and anybody that simply likes to be outside! Our monthly herb walks begin when the plants are up for Spring and end when the plants die back for Fall, roughly starting the end of April and ending the end of September. This event meets at Prairie Star Botanicals (PSB) on the last Wednesday of every month at 5:00 – 5:15 and begins at 5:30 PM. The Herb Walks are heavily dependent upon the weather and cancellations may be last minute, notifications and reminders will be sent out via our newsletter mailing list (you may sign up via the website homepage).

This event is a very localized event because we talk about the plants that we can find, simply by going on a walk in one direction! PSB has a learning garden which is utilized frequently, due to its variety of plants, however we are also hosted and given private garden tours from local growers, and sometimes we will explore a local park or trail to see what we find along the way. This event is free and no registration is necessary.

Annual Plant Sale

This has to be one of my favorites and one of our most sought-after events of the year!! Every Spring, on the First Thursday of May (also paired with Lady’s Day Out – 10% off retail items), we host our Annual Plant Sale. We ask our various local growers to spend the afternoon at PSB and provide the local community with their plants. The local growers we work with offer various plant opportunities:

• Medicinal Herbs
• Culinary Herbs
• Assorted Vegetables
• Fresh-Cut Flower Plants
• Prairie and sun-loving plants
• Drought tolerant and moisture loving plants
• Pollinator and Midwest-native plants
• Forest and shade-loving plants
• Assorted fruit trees and shrubs
• Indoor potted plants
• And so many more!

For this event, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND that participants bring their own flats/boxes/tubs for carrying plants and CASH OR CHECK for paying the plant vendors. Each vendor is a separate business and participants must pay each individual for purchasing their plants. Most of the vendors only accept cash/check, however some are able to accept card/non-cash payments. Plant prices vary per vendor, but are priced appropriately for the size and rarity of plant (roughly, prices range from $3.00 - $15.00).

The annual plant sale is usually held outdoors, right outside of PSB, however if weather is unfavorable, we still hold the event on the first Thursday of May but move it to an indoor setting. Along with gaining new growers every year, the vendors at the affair are well-educated in what they are growing and their knowledge is ever-changing – more than happy to share their growing experiences with the community.

The events listed above are a basis of the core values for Prairie Star Botanicals. Our actions are determined by four pillars of guidance – Community, Empowerment, Education, and Access. Through the activities listed above (Seed Exchange, Herb Walks, and The Annual Plant Sale), we are reaching out to our local herbal Community to provide Access to the Education necessary for our customers to feel Empowered on their healing journey. Although the plant nerd inside each and every one of us (here at PSB) gets to benefit, these events really are designed for our customers.