14-05-2025
Thousands of plants on offer at autumn sale
Friends of the Dunedin Botanic Garden vice-president Jocelyn Livesey (left) and committee member Sue Lambie, are looking forward to the plant sale. PHOTO: BRENDA HARWOOD
Keen gardeners will be flocking to the Dunedin Botanic Garden on Saturday in search of bargains and special plants among the thousands on offer at the annual May Plant Sale.
Organised by the Friends of Dunedin Botanic Garden (DBG) as a fundraising sale for supporting future projects at the garden, the sale will be held from 9am-noon at the garden propagation facility in Lovelock Ave.
Friends of DBG committee member Sue Lambie said the plants, which would include native trees and shrubs, bedding plants and indoor plants, had been mostly raised by propagation nursery volunteers.
Commercial nurseries across the region also contributed by donating plants, including Blue Mountain Nursery, Blueskin Nursery, Ribbonwood Nursery, Wakelin Robin Nursery and Bunnings.
"The result is we have a fantastic selection of plants available at the sale for bargain prices, and some of them are quite unusual," Ms Lambie said.
The Friends of Dunedin Botanic Garden has organised two plant sales each year, in spring and autumn, for several decades.
"We have been able to raise funds for some great projects in the garden, including contributing to the new playground, which has been a great success," she said.
Other projects have included building a platform at the duck pond, providing scholarships to garden staff to assist with attending conferences and the recent installation of a wheelchair-friendly picnic table near the playground.
Friends DBG vice-president Jocelyn Livesey said the group worked closely with Dunedin Botanic Garden management to support a broad range of projects, and also provided a roster of volunteers to staff the information centre and gift shop in the lower garden.
With the imminent departure of Friends DBG president Sam Moncur, Ms Livesey will be taking on the acting president role until the group's annual meeting in September.
