From stunning exotics to rare natives, the Friends of the Orange Botanic Gardens have a truly massive range of plants ready for your garden this Spring!

The Friends of the Orange Botanic Gardens are busy getting ready for another big Spring Plant Sale at their propagation nursery on November 14-15.

As always, people are advised to get there early, as even with more than 160 species of natives and a huge range of exotics, they often sell out quickly.

“We have a wide range of wattles, a lot of eucalypts and quite a range of other stuff to go with it,” said Friends of the Botanic Garden member, Chris Mills.

“Inoculated too,” he adds, explaining how they transfer beneficial soil bacteria and fungi to ensure the propagated plants they sell thrive in local conditions.

“We've also got food plants and things over here, and limited numbers of wollemi pines and also waratahs - over 100 waratahs and they've all been grown from seed from their cultivars,

so they're all lovely, big blooms!”

Among the natives for sale are several threatened species, Chris said, as well as bush foods and herbs.

The propagation area is located between the entrance to the Botanic

“And we've got masses of salvias,” added fellow volunteer, Maureen Pilcher, showing Orange City life through the exotic section.

“Probably about 30 different varieties at least, and they're very popular because they're easy to grow and come in different sizes.

“Then there are different types of teucrium, very popular for hedging,” she continued, “and we've got lots of those over there… rock roses, penstemons - lots of different ones; here’s the shade-loving area…”

The variety and number of plants are truly astounding, and Maureen and other volunteers will be available at the sale to give people advice on plant selection to make sure it’s suitable for your space.

The money raised at the Friends' two annual sales (spring and autumn) supports our local Botanic Garden. Over the years, they have donated features like the analemmatic (horizontal) sundial, sculptures, seating, and other infrastructure.

Don’t miss the Friends of the Orange Botanic Gardens Spring Plant Sale, which takes place at the Orange Botanic Gardens propagation area from 8.30am to 3pm on Saturday, November 14, and 8.30am to 1pm on Sunday, November 15.