by Sandra Hutchinson

Martha Stewart has been quoted as saying “There are a few events that go on my calendar each year that I consider sacrosanct: my family’s birthdays, my summer vacation in Maine, my Christmas party, my Easter egg hunt and Trade Secrets.”

Having attended the the Trade Secrets Rare Plants and Garden Antique Sale this year, on May 18, 2025, in Salisbury, Connecticut, I can confirm that Martha did make an appearance, although she was just leaving as we arrived. But we did have a nice chat with famed interior designer Bunny Williams, who had taken Martha’s spot in the book sale and signing tent.

Ms. Williams created and oversaw the first Trade Secrets event, which has always been a fundraiser for Project Sage, a not-for-profit domestic violence agency serving northwest Connecticut, and the nearby communities in New York and Massachusetts. It began 25 years ago, she said, as a way to sell excess plants from her and a friend’s garden, with some antique dealers invited to show their wares. It has grown into a major two-day event, with advance tickets sold online, with the first day featuring tours of private gardens primarily in northwest Connecticut and eastern New York, and the second, the sale of plants and vintage garden accoutrements. Click here for the Trade Secrets website. The region is notable for its beautiful scenery and historic towns.

Incidentally, Ms. William’s Litchfield County home garden (in Falls Village, Connecticut) was one of the venues for garden tours the previous day. These tours sell out early. I had visited her home and garden about 15 years ago through the Open Days program of the Garden Conservancy, the same garden preservation organization that enabled my visit to Christopher Spitzmiller’s Dutchess County, NY property. Click here to read my blog post on that visit. To check out gardens that are open to the public through the Open Days program, click here. Bunny William’s home and garden are the subject of her 2005 book An Affair with a House. See here.

The Trade Secrets plant sale and garden antiques event was held on the grounds of Lime Rock Park, a “natural terrain motorsport road racing venue,” in the town of Salisbury, Connecticut. There’s a huge parking area, and the vendors and exhibitors are set up under tents on a grassy field.

Don’t expect to find your Home Depot type plants at Trade Secrets. Vendors tend to have more unusual plants, and there are specialty sellers like “Peony’s Envy,” that had a huge number of varieties of peony roots, sold in plastic bags, and not potted.

The orchids were particularly beautiful.

Here’s an assortment of photos showing plant vendors, some garden antiques and accessories, and some very neat willow sculptures.

I did go home with two hard-to-find Hellebores, also called Lenten Rose, in a deep rose-colored variety called “Anna,” which I particularly liked because that was my mother’s first name!

After we left the show, we stopped at the charming White Hart Inn in Salisbury, where we enjoyed sandwiches at the historic venue. Click here for more information on White Hart Inn.

If you’re interested in attending the Trade Secrets garden tours, or the plant sale, make sure to keep checking the Trade Secrets website in the early spring to see when tickets go on sale.