The Botanic Garden of Western Pennsylvania will hold its 15th annual plant sale May 21. Many plants will be offered via the catalog for pre-ordering. There will also be plants available the day of the sale.

The plants are selected by a team of experts and all are hardy in our region. One new offering is available only through the sale, 'Icy Light,' a pink ironweed (Veronia noveboracensis) ($9). Other specialty plants include Korean fir (Abies koreana) 'Horstman's Silberlocke' ($35), bloodtwig dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) 'Midwinter Fire' ($34) and Aster lateriflorus 'Lady in Black' ($9).

Back this year by popular demand are "Captivating Combinations," plants selected by the sale committee that are especially suited for grouping.

Plants must be pre-ordered by April 15 and can be picked up May 21 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the receiving gate of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium (signs will be posted). Proceeds benefit the Botanic Garden of Western Pennsylvania.

For an online catalog, go to www.botanicgardenwpa.org. A paper catalog can be requested by calling 412-361-8677 or e-mailing info@botanicgardenwpa.org.

Sewickley Garden Tour and Party<</STRONG>
P> The 10th annual Sewickley Garden Tour to benefit the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force will be held June 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A garden party, which will feature live music and an auction, will be held June 25 at 6:30 p.m. Information: 412-242-2500, ext. 123.

Artist garden symposium

Some of the nation's leading artists and landscape designers will be at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art on April 11 for a symposium, "No Stone Unturned: Artists + Garden."

They will also celebrate the opening of the Kraus Campo, a public art/garden installation on the CMU campus. The symposium is free and open to the public and will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with a panel discussion at 7 p.m., all at the McConomy Auditorium at the University Center.

Lecturers include: Mel Bochner, conceptual artist and designer of the Kraus Campo; Charles Eliot, professor of landscape architecture at Harvard Design School and landscape architect of the Kraus Campo; Robert Irwin, artist and designer of gardens at the Getty Center in Los Angeles; Julie Bargmann, assistant professor and director of the landscape architecture program at the University of Virginia; Valerie Smith, director of exhibitions at the Queens Museum of Art; Michael Van Valkenburgh, principal at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates; and Meg Webster, sculptor and creator of A New California Garden at Stanford University and Kitchen Garden at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston.

Registration is encouraged by calling 412-268-2409 or e-mailing nostone@andrew.cmu.edu.