Welcome to this charity fundraiser where I'm on a mission not only to raise money for ParaFed Taranaki but I'm also trying to preserve old plant varieties so they are not lost for good and for future generations to enjoy! This project is for home gardeners only to re-stock our backyard gardens with these old time plant varieties and for garden nuts like me to share treasures and unusual plants to
celebrate the beauty of nature! I have been a passionate gardener in Taranaki for over 40 years and have a number of old fashioned, rare, heritage, cottage and special plants in my home sized garden in New Plymouth and at my business premises in Hawera. I also receive terrific support from Taranaki Gardeners, who share their special plants with me for the cause. Many of these varieties you can no longer buy at garden centres. I've always grown plants for friends and in 2014 I decided to donate 100% of the proceeds of all sales to support a fantastic local charity - ParaFed Taranaki. I donate my time and all inputs like fertiliser, potting mix, snail bait etc. ParaFed is a non-profit organisation whose vision is " to inspire people with physical disabilities to achieve equality, excellence and wellbeing through Sport and Recreation" For more information visit their website. So if you live in Taranaki and are obsessed with plants like I am, check out what I have available and help to support a great cause. Most plants are in 10cm square pots and all are potted up with purchased potting mix/compost so there are no weed concerns. Daltons Ltd (NZ) very kindly donate a pallet of Daltons Premium potting mix and ten 1.5 kg bags of Daltons Premium Bulb Fertiliser annually to help with this project . The Egmont A& P Association are also helping by allowing me access to used wood shavings and sawdust from the horses stables which is a great filler for some of the bigger pots. I sell plants usually for just $5 so grab yourself a bargain. Seeds and Bulbs are normally $2 per packet. Some very rare things that I have and receive donations for are priced accordingly given market trends, but essentially I'm trying to make it affordable for gardeners to plant out these old time favourites for future generations. To contact me with your order or enquiry ALWAYS SEND A MESSAGE TO THIS PAGE.......Always send a message, rather than comment on the photos as I process all orders via messages in the date order received.......this site is extremely popular and I often do not get time to read all the comments on photos or try and match all comments to names. Please be patient as I am also working where I cannot access my phone during the day. I tend to use my PC and catch up with this charity work at nights. From time to time during the year, I will advertise plants as they are available. Contactless pick ups are organised, so that I can carry on working. We work on a trust system with people lodging funds into a holding account for the charity. You can buy as many plants as you like BUT I LIMIT 1 to 2 items per variety to stop people BULK buying specific species.....this way it is fair and helps spread the love around!.... As we are gaining popularity, you need to get in quick with your orders to avoid disappointment. I'll often have an "odds and sods" table out front in case there is anything else there that tempts your fancy when you pick up your orders! SORRY I DO NOT POST AS I DO NOT HAVE TIME.....BUT for out of town visitors, I open up the Hawera shed annually whilst the Taranaki Garden festivals are on to give you a chance to purchase some of these old treasures....this is a large scale event where I have in excess of 2000 plants ready, and a huge seed bank and dry bulb collection. I publish a schedule annually of the other public events I run from the Hawera shed. This gives you time to organise and plan your visits.....an ideal trip for garden circle members! I no longer have free time to give talks or visits to such organisations, so this is the best time to catch me. You can also help the cause by letting me know if you have:
1. plastic plant pots to recycle - I use 10cm squares and the larger six pack (about 4cm each square) and larger bucket sized pots for mother plants
2. spare old fashioned bulbs that we could sell (mainly small spring bulbs as I don't have room for larger bulbs)
3. rare plants that I could take cuttings from
4. Seeds you have collected that we can sell
5. Paper supermarket shopping bags....the Countdown ones in particular are best with the rope type handles
6. Spare plastic bags to be recycled as plant carry bags - newspaper plastic bags are ideal (cut open down the longer side)
7. Unused bags of fertiliser or potting mix
8. Ice cream containers with lids
Recycling can be dropped off when you pick up your plants. Please help spread the word by asking other facebook gardening friends to like this page. PLEASE NOTE: I am happy to give up my time for the benefit of home gardeners only so for those who are selling plants either part time or commercially, I will not share my collection with you, nor share donated plants/seeds/bulbs as this is not in the the spirit of this project and will seriously jepardise any plant donations I receive. As at Nov 2025, this project has raised $63810 and I have set a rather ambitious goal to raise $100,000 for this project in my lifetime.
