10/06/2026
MY FIRST AUTUMN AT THE NURSERY
Well.
Autumn has officially packed its bags and left and, seeing as this was my very first autumn since opening Sylvia Pass Nursery, I thought I'd share a few things I've learned.
Firstly, plants are like people.
Some absolutely loved the cooler weather and started looking like they belonged on the cover of a gardening magazine. Others behaved as though autumn was a personal attack and proceeded to drop leaves, sulk and make me question all my life choices. Literally. I was standing there asking myself how exactly I was supposed to make the nursery look like Woolworths on my R50.00 budget.
Secondly, no matter how many plants I order, there is apparently no such thing as enough plants.
I order plants. The plants arrive. I arrange the plants. I admire the plants. Customers buy the plants. Suddenly there are gaps everywhere and I'm ordering plants again. It feels a bit like trying to fill a bathtub while someone has secretly removed the plug.
Thirdly, customers are wonderful, but they keep giving me ideas.
Every conversation starts innocently enough. Do you stock herbs? Can you help me with my garden? Do you do workshops? Do you rent plants?
Before I know it, I've added seventeen new things to my notebook and convinced myself they're all brilliant ideas. The good news is that I'll probably end up doing all of them. The bad news is that there are only twenty four hours in a day.
This autumn we've welcomed new customers, new plants, new suppliers, new workshop attendees and new members into our little plant obsessed community. We've laughed, learned, repotted things that should probably have been repotted months earlier and celebrated plants that somehow survived despite their owners doing everything except reading the care instructions.
One of the biggest surprises has been discovering how attached I get to certain plants. I tell myself they're stock. They are inventory. They are products. Then someone buys one and I find myself saying goodbye like a proud parent sending their child off to university. I think I was genuinely upset once.
The rain also taught me something important.
Weeds don't stop weeding.
You pull them out. It rains. They come back. You pull them out again. It rains again. They come back with reinforcements. At this point I am fairly certain the weeds are holding strategic planning meetings after dark.
Without a doubt, weeding is the worst part of my job.
My favourite part is moving things around. I love changing displays, shifting plants, creating little corners and making the nursery look different. Then a few weeks later I buy something new, find a new plant, get another idea and rearrange everything all over again. I don't think the nursery has looked the same for more than two consecutive weeks since I opened.
The really exciting thing is that there is still so much I want to do.
I want to add a pond.
I want a pergola covered in vines.
I need more greenhouse space.
At some point I need pebbles. Lots of pebbles.
And ceramic pots. Beautiful ceramic pots.
The problem is that every time I cross one thing off my list, I add another three things.
The nursery is still growing, changing and evolving every week, and that's probably one of my favourite parts of this journey. The nursery you see today is nowhere near the finished version. It's simply the beginning.
This first autumn has also taught me that running a nursery is a lot like gardening. You start with a vision, do your best, make a few mistakes, learn as you go and occasionally stand back and think, Yoh, this is actually starting to look quite nice.
The exciting thing is that every season ahead is another first.
My first winter.
My first spring.
My first full summer.
Which means more lessons, more plants, more workshops, more ideas and almost certainly more moments where I discover a new problem and immediately turn it into another project.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Whether you've bought a plant, attended a workshop, joined one of our groups, followed us online or simply enjoyed reading these newsletters, you've helped make this nursery what it is becoming.
You're not just watching a nursery grow.
You're helping build it.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go order more plants.
Again.
Until next time,
Terry
Sylvia Pass Nursery
59 Frederick Street, Sylvia Pass Observatory
061 805 9761
Subscribe to our newsletter for funny plant stories and garden inspiration.
Follow us on Instagram
[www.sylviapassnursery.co.za](http://www.sylviapassnursery.co.za)
Located in Observatory, Johannesburg, Sylvia Pass Nursery offers a diverse selection of quality plants, seedlings, flower pots, succulents, fruit trees, and handmade gifts.
