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What sells well at charity plant sales?

I wanted to grow some plants to donate to charity plant sales for fundraising.

I've never bought a plant as I grow everything from seed, so not really up on what is donated to charity plant sales and what is popular.It's for a botanic garden so the customers are quite knowledgeable so one couldn't grow any old rubbish.

Any suggestions please?

 

 

Posts

  • Peanuts3Peanuts3 Posts: 759

    I'm a complete novice, but I grow cosmos from seed, treat it oh so badly but always amazed at how well it grows and flowers.  That would have to be popular surely, unless its too easy image

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Hi Frank, for knowledgeable customers, anything they won't find in the nearest GC.

    If you're a seed grower look at Chiltern seeds, Plant World Seeds and Special Plants (Derry Watkins), There are others and someone else may provide the names but these are the ones I've tried and found successful.

    Otherwise, for charity plant sales generally, anything that's in flower at time of sale. or bedding plants



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    Tomato plants, courgette plants. Lettuce strips. Bean plants.



    Ignore the fact it's in a Botanic garden. They don't have to be 'high end' plants.



    If you are selling rarities, take along an encyclopaedia too.
  • Tropical SamTropical Sam Posts: 1,488

    Ask to take or be given some cuttings from the garden to grow and sell on. Unusual plants will command more money. People like fillers, so anything small sells well or has something going for it - Crassula/Money tree for good luck, Sweetpea for perfume and the like.

  • Thanks all, I don't really go to garden centres because they are so far out of town, so not sure what they sell. The plant sales are a couple of times a year. There's one in May for sure, one in September for national engineering week. I don't go to them but they can pick up a Eurotrolley on the Thursday or Friday. 

    Botanic Gardens collect the seed from their plants and save them in the index seminum for inter-garden exchange and as a seed bank, so they're not keen on people collecting seed.

    I've started some trays of architectural plants to start off with and some meconopsis. 

    I'm more into edible plants (far less faff and work and I can eat them), my minor involvement with the BG is to learn about the ornamentals.

    So edibles would sell? Perennial edibles?

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,023

    Frank, have you had a look at this thread? http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/talkback/plant-sales-for-school-fundraising/593962.html    

    As I said there, I've run charity plant sales, a lot depends on the time of year. If it's May, then I've found summer bedding plants sell best. I usually do some tomatoes and courgettes, but they don't sell so well.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • chilly plants and tomato plants

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,064

    I would think plants such as white foxgloves, fancy aquilegias, astrantias, rudbeckias in unusual colours, geums, hardy geraniums, less common salvia varieties and so on.

    I've organised plant sales before and named chillies usually go down well but not so much toms and cougettes which are easy to pick up in markets and garden centres. 

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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