A young man balancing two hanging baskets while riding a unicycle along Southwest
Marine Drive is what Sybil Jamieson recalls. Audrey Litherland says it’s commonplace
to see students on bicycles struggling with two-metre palms.
UBC’s 22nd annual indoor plant sale takes place Sept. 16-18 from 11 a.m. to
5 p.m. in the Botanical Garden. No one knows for sure if it’s the biggest event
of its kind because there is nothing else quite like it. Everyone is certain,
however, that every single plant will be sold.
“We didn’t set out to make money,” says Jamieson, one of the founders of the
sale. “We wanted to raise a few dollars for the Botanical Garden and let students
know they can enjoy it for free. Most of all we wanted to put a little greenery
in their lives and their new residences.”
The first sale took place in the garage at the President’s house.
“People lined up in the teeming rain with umbrellas and wheelbarrows and we
were stunned to see that everything was gone in just a few hours,” she says.
For years Jamieson’s son joined the all-night watch to guard the plants when
the event moved to the tennis courts. Litherland, another long-time Friend of
the Garden (FOG) says, “a FOG and her dog caught someone trying to climb over
the fence at the entrance to the Botanical Garden in the middle of the night
last year.”
Ultimately it’s the selection that inspires thoughts of larceny and long lineups.
“We have several thousand plants, everything from orchids and herbs to tropical
and flowering plants, from two inches to six feet,” says Ray Moon, current chair
of the FOG student plant sale committee.
Jamieson says people’s tastes change.
“One year we sold hundreds of ferns, another year it was plants in a bottle
and many men seem to want something big — the bigger the better.”
Litherland says many want “a plant like Mom has,” although they can’t remember
the name.
Perhaps it’s the need to own and scratch the tiniest bit of ground and watch
the renewal of life that makes students risk the humiliation and guilt that
comes with a dead houseplant. Undoubtedly the prospective plant owners want
to set down roots in the dorm. Like scholarship, the new plant may demand long
hours, single-mindedness and resiliency in the face of setbacks. Undoubtedly
there will be realization of how little one knows.
Perhaps the biggest draw to the sale is the wisdom of the FOGs who can pick
out something for a north window or dark basement where only students and a
few plants live. The advice is free and all plants come with written instructions.
Prices start at three dollars and include tax. Faculty, staff and the public
are welcome as well. UBC’s Botanical Garden is at 6804 Southwest Marine Drive.
