It’s been 15 years since our first official plant sale fundraiser at the Garden, but the evolution of ‘Plant Sale’ began well before the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden came into existence.
Read on to meet some the many wonderful people and organizations who’ve supported this event over the years.
PHOTO: The Garden’s retired native plant garden coordinator, Harry Hill, shares his knowledge with the Potting Up Group volunteers of the native plants available at this year’s Plant Sale.
“Queen Victoria here!”
Nancy Webber recalls one afternoon in 2005 at Gibsons’ Heritage Playhouse, when England-born Verity Goodier, one of the Potting Up Group’s original volunteers, had jumped up on stage pretending to be the long-reigning monarch.
“And Bill Terry, well, he had dyed his hair blue, so it was Madmen against Englishmen that day.“
This event Nancy is referring to was one of the Potting Up group’s first unofficial plant sales, where silliness and fun were on order and all kinds of plants, trees, and shrubs were sold out of truck beds and car boots in the Playhouse’s parking lot.
That day, David Tarrant from the UBC Botanical Garden had been invited to speak, and the group had sold pots of Meconopsis (blue poppy), of which Bill Terry had been a dedicated cultivator – hence his choice for bright blue locks.
PHOTO: Bill Terry goes incognito with a new,
blue hairstyle in ode to a favourite floral, the Meconopsis (Blue Poppy).
PHOTO: 1. Lynne Bogardus is all smiles at an early years ‘car boot’ plant sale.
2. The Heritage Playhouse Theatre played host to the very first plant sale events.
Today Garden historians Barb Mason, Karin Tigges, Nancy Webber, Paddy Wales, and Verity Goodier have met to reminisce about the start of the Potting Up Group and the early years of the Plant Sale. This group and others, including Beverley Merryfield and Harry Hill, joined forces to raise funds so the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden Society could offer workshops and speaker presentations, and one day, even purchase some land for the pie-in-the-sky dream botanical garden.
At first, plants were sold tailgate-style at events where the group was invited to set up; the locale changed to the Heritage Playhouse parking lot, then the parking lot of the Beach Buoy (now The Wobbly Canoe) restaurant in Davis Bay.
“Everyone was always so helpful. All the volunteers would help load the pickup trucks. And Mike from Sunshine Coast Nursery helped move plants for us – he was wonderful,” Karin Tigges reflects.
Paddy Wales notes, “We used to get leftover plants from Southlands Nursery.”
“We still do,” Karin interjects.
“Thanks to Lindsay MacPherson,” Nancy adds.
This group is quick to give credit where it’s due, noting many people, organizations, and businesses have donated plants and soil over the years, including VanDusen Botanical Garden, Rona, Southlands Nursery, Spirithouse Gardens, Independent Grocer, Top Quality Top Soil, and Canadian Tire, and donors such as Liz MacPhail and sisters Arlene Watson and Eileen Beck.
“Things are changing in what people want these days – people are becoming more savvy about drought-tolerant plants and native plants.”
– Nancy Webber
PHOTO: 1. The parking lot of the former Beach Buoy restaurant in Davis Bay was bustling with customers.
2. Plant sale volunteers unload plants from their vehicles ahead of opening.
“Remember that one year at the Beach Buoy, every plant had a tag, and this little boy and his sister came along and were pulling out all the tags and rearranging them.” Nancy says, as the group laughs.
“And trying to keep the people out of the parking lot before we opened…” Barb adds.
“Oh yes. That was difficult.” Verity chimes in, laughing.
“And because we were set up in the parking lot, there was no parking, so the highway would be lined with cars,” says Nancy.
PHOTO: The resident Black Bear who would observe the Potting Up group (below) as they worked from the back-forty of Paddy Wales’ property.
Potting and labelling for the early-years plant sales were all done in the backyard of Paddy’s home in Roberts Creek. The group reflects on the resident bear that would occasionally observe them from the trees as they worked behind Paddy’s shed. Barb looks at Nancy, “Do you remember your dog eating Karin’s baking?”
Nancy throws her head back and laughs, “The best part about being in this Potting Up group was that Karin always brought something yummy. One day she brought a lemon loaf – a big one for the six of us potting. At the time, I had this lovely little dog, and he took a bite right out of the centre. Karin took one look around, said “shush” and quickly cut out the bit in the middle and served the rest.”
Over the years, the group’s plant sale events had become increasingly more popular and more detailed, and required more attention. Karin stepped forward to lead this new endeavour. Once the Garden property had been purchased, the area of the Works Yard and Potting Shed was designated as the home base for what would become the Garden’s annual Plant Sale. Karin’s husband Heinz Tigges built the potting tables and shelves and helped to connect irrigation.
“The people sure came”, Paddy notes, recalling the first event at its new location in 2010. “Well, except for the mayor.”
Nancy explains, “He [Darren Inkster] was supposed to cut the ribbon and open the gate for everyone, but he arrived late and there was NO parking.” Paddy adds, “We must have had 200 people waiting in the line-up, so when he finally came, everyone was already shopping.
PHOTO: 1. Early years Plant Sale posters were created by Beverley Merryfield. 2. Judy Garrett carefully weighs and packages bags of our popular fertilizer. 3. June Meyer is a familiar face that many of our shoppers and volunteers look forward to seeing each year.
Karin shared that Beverley Merryfield designed the promotional posters and made the labels.
“She also made egg salad sandwiches,” adds Paddy, “And someone gave us those wonderful aprons too.”
Barb comments that it was Verity who first thought to put together a list of everything available for sale. “Then Amanda Offers took it over and has kept up the spreadsheet since then. It’s a lot of work,” Karin adds.
Nancy nods, “The community rallied around us for that Plant Sale, with food, plants, aprons and wheelbarrows.”
The Plant Sale has grown every year since and has become more organized with the help of many volunteers, many of whom have been longtime supporters. Barb says, “And someone is always watching to make sure nobody goes to the cashier without their tally sheet.”
“That would be Pat McDowell,” Paddy credits.
The popular bags of fertilizer – always a sell-out – are carefully prepared and packaged by Judy Garrett, Master Gardeners are on hand for advice, and June Meyer always volunteers to supervise the Plant Hold area.
“Being at cash is fun,” says Nancy. “People are so excited about their plants. You could say to one guy ‘nice selection,’ and they’d rattle off about everything they know about their purchases. But then the next guy would be so excited they forgot to ask any questions and when they get to us they ask ‘Do you know what this plant is?’” The group laughs. “And this is why we have plant labels.”
Barb shares that the labels are essential and hold a lot of detail outside of the plant name and price. “Ali [Forbes], our new lead, likes to track who it came from and the day it was potted,” noting it all supports the Potting Up Group’s learning about growing conditions and plant health.
In June of 2023, Karin handed the reins of Potting Up Group lead to Allison Forbes, who owns and operates Spirithouse Gardens, a micro-nursery in Roberts Creek. “Ali’s got some great methods, and we have some fantastic new volunteers who have joined us recently,” Nancy says, expressing gratitude to longtime volunteers Ali Thompson, Evelyn Schimmel, Sheila Watkins, Tracy Lund, and Judy Trapp.
Barb laughs recalling a time when the letters PS were written on the labels. “We finally stopped and questioned, ‘Does this mean it’s part-shade, or part-sun?’”
“We’re still perfecting it,” Paddy says.
– Heather Vince, Development Officer
