Saturday April 26, 2025
9:00 am–2:00 pm
Join us for our Spring Garden Fair, held at our Martial Cottle Park Demonstration Garden in San Jose.
Admission: Free.
Parking: $6
About Martial Cottle Park
Directions (Google Maps)
Please note: The park opens at 8 am. Cars are not allowed to line up before the park gates open. Please be respectful of the surrounding neighborhoods.
Master Gardener Activities
Let our Plant Daycare watch your purchases, then stroll through our gardens, attend a talk, bring your plant, soil, pest, and tool questions to our Information Tables, or eat a picnic lunch.
- Shop for locally grown plants.
- Attend free gardening talks.
- Get advice at our Help Desk.
- Learn to sharpen your pruners.
- Tour our demonstration gardens.
- Enjoy fun children’s activities.
Plant Sale
Choose from hundreds of seedlings all raised right at Martial Cottle Park. We grow varieties not readily available elsewhere, selected for outstanding taste, beauty, and performance in our soil and climate.
Arrive early for best selection. Some varieties may sell out quickly or be in short supply. Please bring a box, cart, or wagon for an easier shopping experience. Only service dogs are permitted in the sales area. We suggest wearing sturdy shoes for walking on the uneven, possibly muddy wood chip mulched sales area.
Plants start at $5. Cash, checks, and credit/debit cards are all accepted. Proceeds support the Master Gardeners' mission.
Public Tomato Trial
We are inviting members of the public to join us in growing and evaluating three new tomato varieties. Your input will help us decide whether to add one or more of these to our tomato line up. Learn more about the exciting proposed varieties and how to participate in the Public Tomato Trial.
Gardening Talks
Join us for talks by UC Master Gardeners. No registration needed. See talk schedule.
Seed Exchange
Come join in the age old tradition of sharing seeds. Sharing community seeds builds resilience in our food systems and genetic diversity in our seeds. Bring saved seed or leftover seed packets to share. Label your seeds with common name, year of harvest, and your zip code. You’re welcome to take seeds even if you don’t have any to share this year.
Information Tables
Bring your plant, soil, pest, and tool questions to our Education Booths.
- Help Desk: Bring your questions and plant samples to learn more about what is in your garden.
- California Native Plants: Find out more about these plants that are perfectly adapted to our climate
- Tool Care: See live demonstrations of how to keep your tools sharp and in tip-top condition. Bring your own hand pruner (it must be in working condition) and learn to sharpen it yourself.
- Irrigation Troubleshooting: Chat with our team about irrigating your garden. See a demo on different irrigation options.
- Other Information: Visit our other information tables to learn about waterwise plants, animal pest control, and much more.
Tomatoes, Peppers, Herbs, Flowers, Native Plants, and Succulents: Master Gardeners in any of our sales areas will be happy to talk with you about growing, harvesting, dealing with problems, special varieties, and more.
Children's Activities
Kids will have a great time in our Growing Young Gardeners area. Come see what fun our volunteers have in store. Kids will have a great time in our Growing Young Gardeners area. Come see what fun our volunteers have in store. Learn about gardening and how food grows with a variety of fun activities. For kids of all ages.
Green Elephant Sale
Shop for gently used tools, pots, books and other gardening supplies.
The Spring Garden Fair is an educational event and fundraiser to benefit the UC Master Gardener Program of Santa Clara County, a division of the University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources.