Gardeners from across South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales will descend on Tamborine Mountain this weekend in search of dirt cheap plants. 

That’s the word from Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens president Denby Browning ahead of the gardens’ first plant sale of 2021.

Work shed doors will open this Saturday at 8am and run through to midday, or until sold out. 

But Mr Browning reckons the early birds will snap up the bargains, if not the worms. 

Because this sale will focus on bare rooted plants. That means they are unpotted and cleaned of dirt. 

“As any avid gardener knows, it also means they come at bargain prices,” Mr Browning said. 

“We’ll be selling bare rooted agapanthus at $2, fully ready to bung in the ground and go.” 

The Gardens’ president said the sales had become the stuff of legend. And if past experience was anything to go by, those avid gardeners will come ready to pounce.  

“I guarantee that by about 7.30am the carpark will start filling up,” Mr Browning said. 

“They’ll want to get in early because they know the bargains to be had and they know if they leave it too late, they’ll get the scraps.”

Head potter Bobby White said other bare roots on sale would include a collection of clivias, special gingers and bromeliads. 

“Of course, we will have many samples of favourites such as begonias and geraniums and also some unusual succulents, they are very popular at the moment,” she said. 

A stalwart of the gardens who has “been there forever”, Mrs White said her plants had “never looked better”.  

“The combination of regular rain and warm weather have resulted in thriving greenery and colour,” she said. 

Mr Browning said prices would range up to about $20 and include a mix of ages. 

With border restrictions lifted, he was expecting gardeners from below the Tweed, as well as across the Scenic Rim, the Gold Coast and as far north as Brisbane. 

This weekend will be the Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens’ first plant sale of the year and an opportunity to bounce back from a disrupted 2020. 

Normally, its three annual sales are important fundraisers for the volunteer-run gardens.

Mr Browning hopes to raise a couple of thousand dollars this weekend, which will go toward the upkeep of the much-loved gardens. 

He said that donation boxes and grants had allowed garden workers to keep busy last year, with the unveiling soon to come for two “major projects”. 

“One is a new pathway and another part of a huge program to future proof the gardens,” he said.