Have you been looking for an extra-hard-to-find plant at your local Bunnings to no avail? Or, are you a plant enthusiast who loves to find exotic, uncommon plants to add to your collection? The Growing Friends Autumn Plant Sale is running from the 9-19 of April, and is full of beautiful, rare and popular plant species to purchase.
Twice a year, Growing Friends at the Sydney Botanic Gardens opens its gates to sell rare, native, and popular plants. These plants are mostly sourced from the Gardens’ Living Collection, meaning that they are grown and propagated from the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, Australian Botanic Gardens Mount Annan and Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The Growing Friends Autumn Plant Sale is running from 9-19 of April, 2026 at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.
- You can purchase rare, exotic and native plants that are propogated from species within the botanic gardens.
- This sale is volunteer-run and is only open to the public twice a year.
- The proceeds of this sale fund experiences, renovations and key products needed around the botanic gardens in Sydney, Mount Annan and Mount Tomah.
Growing Friends is a volunteer-run group that dedicates their time to learning how to care for and propagate different plants. The volunteers help with the plant sales through propagation and by helping to run the sale. Liz Jeavons-Fellows, Team Leader at Growing Friends, explains that part of the purpose of the plant sale is to help fund horticultural and conservation projects within the Botanic Gardens, to help preserve and progress plant collections.
This autumn sale is running for only two weeks in April. All I can say is, get in quick so you don’t miss out on picking up a pot.
What plants can you buy at the Growing Friends Plant Sale?
From ferns to salvia to paper daisies, there’s something for every kind of plant lover to invest in. With native species and special sale plants up the front and global species further down, it’s a stroll that guarantees a purchase at the end.
In September 2025, I was lucky enough to attend the Growing Friends Spring Plant Sale, which had a number of rare and exciting plants, including plants that were directly propagated from the Alchemy of Rainforest exhibition. These plants include Heuchera, Philodendron, Spathiphyllum and as many ferns as you can think of!
For those who love new varieties of their backyard favourites, there are Begonias, Rhipsalis, Salvias and succulents galore to choose from.
Raising money for horticultural projects
Growing Friends dedicates a part of every purchase towards vital science and conservation projects within the Botanic Gardens.
The Growing Friends Plant Sale donates its proceeds towards helping fund new experiences at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Previously, proceedings have gone to building a Camellia boardwalk, a demister for the Orchid House, and to purchase Peter Hay’s (President of the Clivia Society of NSW) collection of rare clivias.
Make sure to check out their Fundraising Fern-mometer, located at the front of the sale, to see how much money has been raised from the Plant Sale.
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