SEASONAL FESTIVALS & PLANT SALES
CHRISTMAS TREE SALE
The annual Christmas Tree Sale will take place on Saturday, December 7th from 10 AM to 4 PM in the Arboretum’s New York Avenue Parking Lot. Shop for Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands during the sale. You can also pre-order your greenery! Have them delivered to your house, or pick them up at the Arboretum on December 7th. Pre-ordering is not required but guarantees you a great tree at the best price. When pre-ordering, please select “Friends of the National Arboretum” as the fundraising partner at checkout to ensure your purchase supports FONA.
You can receive a FONA membership when you buy a tree, wreath, or garland during our sale. 10% of your Tree Sale purchase is donated back to FONA through this fundraiser. Therefore, your purchase counts as your member donation and qualifies you for membership. Use this opportunity to become a FONA member for the first time, renew or extend your existing membership, or gift a membership to someone else. This offer is only available on December 7th for in-person sales and for people who pick up their pre-ordered trees during the sale. You must redeem the membership during the sale by visiting the FONA table at the event.
NATIVE PLANT SALE
The Native Plant Sale takes place every year in March in conjunction with the National Arboretum’s Lahr Native Plants Symposium. Our annual Native Plant Sale includes a small number of plant vendors (~3-5 vendors) from across the mid-Atlantic selling spring ephemerals and many other choice perennials and woody plants. We will share more information about the 2025 Native Plant Sale in early 2025.
GARDEN FAIR & PLANT SALE
Thank you to everyone who attended the 2024 Garden Fair & Plant Sale! This annual event takes place every year on the last weekend of April. This is our largest seasonal festival and is an important fundraiser for FONA.
Shop thousands of plants and over 30 local gardening, lifestyle, and food vendors. You can also get advice from our expert gardeners and enjoy free family activities. We will share more information about the 2025 Garden Fair & Plant Sale in early 2025.
BULB SALE & GARLIC PLANTING PARTY
Thank you to everyone who attended our 2024 Bulb Sale & Garlic Planting Party in the Washington Youth Garden! We greatly enjoyed celebrating fall and FONA’s community with all who attended. Hundreds of people planted garlic, harvested sweet potatoes, tried fresh sugar cane juice, enjoyed free nature-based family activities, and bought edible or ornamental bulbs to plant in their own gardens. We will share information about the 2025 event in the late summer or early fall of 2025.
VENDOR APPLICATION
Apply today to be a vendor at our annual seasonal festivals! Each event draws thousands of attendees to the National Arboretum. We have a limited number of booths available at these events and spaces fill quickly.
EVENT VOLUNTEERING
Volunteering at FONA’s events throughout the year is a great way to support our work building community at the National Arboretum. Spend a day enjoying plants and people by volunteering at our annual Garden Fair and Plant Sale, or help with other seasonal festivals, concerts, 5K races, and more. No experience is required, but we greatly appreciate when people can commit to volunteering at multiple events throughout the year. Fill out our event volunteer interest form and we will get back to you with more details.
