Shop the largest plant sale in the state at the Friends School Plant Sale at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds May 9th-11th, 2025! You’ll find over 2,000 plant varieties!
I sure hope we can safely say that Spring is here!! The upcoming Friends School Plant sale is a great way to find the plants we need!
One of the largest, if not THE largest plant sale in the whole Midwest happens in May at the MN State Fairgrounds. This year, the Friends School Plant Sale begins Friday, May 9th and continues through Sunday, May 11th.
The sale features a full line of annuals, perennials, climbing plants, native perennials, and vegetables, with selected roses, trees and shrubs and an increasing selection of fruit.
With over 2,000 plant varieties, there’s bound to be something for everyone, green thumb or not. Plus there are always gift ideas from local exhibitors, perfect for your own yard or for your friends and family who love to garden.
To be prepared you may want to read up on how the sale works, check out the map, hours and tips. You can find the need to know info here on their website.
Important details and What’s new for 2025…
No parking in the Midway. The biggest news this year is that we’ve changed our primary parking lot and moved the Wristband Booth and Garden Fair locations. Our parking lot is now in the Transit Hub, northwest of the Grandstand. The Wristband Booth and Garden Fair are in the plaza between parking and the Plant Sale. Note: With these changes, there is no parking in the Midway.
Friends School Plant Sale 2025 Details (Direct from the Sale):
- More compact. The Herb and Vegetable sections are more compact than last year. The tomatoes will be closer to the rest of the vegetables—no longer at the end of Annuals.
- Mushrooms inside. We’ve moved the mushrooms inside the Grandstand. You’ll now find them near the sale entrance, at the bottom of the west stairway.
- Finding the Fruit. If you’re looking to buy an apple tree this year, they have moved to the far southeast corner of the fenced area, next to Shrubs & Trees. The rest of Fruit continues west along that fence, and goes behind the Info Desk tent. (See the sale map.)
- New plants. There are more than 220 new varieties in this year’s sale: 38 annuals, 80 perennials, 18 shrubs and trees, 20 unusual and rare plants, 13 fruits or nuts, and 33 vegetables.
- Texts for wristband group announcements. This is not new, but just a reminder that we no longer post individual wristband group admission times on Twitter. Instead, please sign up for texts when it’s your turn to shop, or when wristbands are no longer required each day. You can sign up for texts after you receive your wristband or on the day you shop. Note that we delete all phone numbers after the sale is over.
Tips for shopping the sale:
For the smallest crowds shop late afternoon on Friday or Saturday or on Sunday after noon. If you volunteer you can shop on Thursday!
To ensure you get the plants you want, arrive super early on Friday morning (7 am or earlier), or on the weekend by 9 am. Or again, volunteer!
To pay the least for your plants you can shop on Sunday when all remaining plant are 1/3 off.
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Kristi is married with twin daughters. She grew up on a small dairy farm, but now lives in the south metro area. She enjoys finding free or thrifty things to do whether they are outings close to home or last minute adventures to far-away places.
Kristi can also be found enjoying estate sales, attempting to garden, volunteering in the wetlands or a favorite thrift store, or maybe just enjoying a good play in one of the many theatre venues in the area.
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