Annual giant plant sale on in Central Otago this Labour Weekend

A huge array of locally grown plants will be on sale at Otago Polytechnic’s 16th annual Giant Plant Sale to be held in Cromwell this Labour Weekend.

The main plant sale will be held at the Polytechnic’s Cromwell campus from 9.30am to 2pm on Saturday 24 October but pensioners with a gold card can choose to avoid the masses by attending a special 2 to 3pm timeslot the day before.

Otago Polytechnic horticulture lecturer Jo Wakelin says the giant sale is a popular fixture for the region’s gardeners.

“Everyone loves the range of plants, fantastic bargains, free gardening advice and the chance to support our horticulture students.

“All of the plants and vegetables on sale are perfectly suited to our southern climate and have been propagated and grown by our students studying for their national certificate in horticulture.

“They’ve done an amazing job this year. We’re selling a huge array of plants and vegetables, from bedding plant punnets of delphiniums, petunias, poppies, sunflowers and cornflowers to veges, herbs, lots of tasty varieties of tomatoes, strawberries, and rhubarb. We also have a variety of natives, tussocks and trees,” she says.

Drought-resistant plants are a particular specialty says Ms Wakelin, who designed and oversaw the planting of Cromwell’s dry garden last summer.

“Otago Polytechnic has a strong sustainable practice ethos and one of the things we’re big on is saving water. Drought-resident plants don’t require much water so we’re huge advocates of using them to create dry gardens. I’ll be on hand at the sale and am happy to give people advice on how to start their own if they’re interested.”

While the main focus of the day is plants and gardens, the sale is also a great family day out and a good chance to experience what happens on campus.

There will be free food and wine tastings prepared and run by Otago Polytechnic cookery and viticulture students using produce we grow in the Polytechnic gardens, orchards and vineyards. There’s also the opportunity to view the stone walls and features built by students of New Zealand’s only full-time stonemasonry course.

Entry to the Giant Plant sale is free and but Ms Wakelin encourages attendees to “go green” and bring their own cardboard boxes or washing baskets to take their purchases home.

Money raised from the plant sale benefits the horticulture students and is used for extra field trips and additional gardening resources.