Botanical garden auction item ideas that actually sell

For the general list, see our 100+ silent auction item ideas. A garden has two categories nobody else can supply: material propagated from its own collection, and the people who grow it.

Propagated plant material

• A division or cutting from a notable specimen, with its provenance recorded
• A seedling of a champion or historic tree in the collection
• Rare or hard-to-source species the trade does not carry
• A collection — every named cultivar of one genus the garden holds
• Seed from the garden's own collection, where agreements permit distribution
• A plant chosen for the winner by a horticulturist, for their specific conditions

Everything here needs the curator's approval first — for patents, agreements, invasive risk, phytosanitary rules and conservation status. That conversation is quick and it is not optional.

Horticultural expertise

• A garden visit and consultation at the winner's own property
• A border or bed designed by the garden's designer
• A pruning session — fruit trees, roses, wisteria, an overgrown shrub
• Plant diagnosis: what is wrong with this tree, and what to do
• A soil test with interpretation and a planting recommendation
• A propagation or grafting class, taught privately
• A talk to a garden club, a plant society or a company

The garden visit is the item to build. Keen gardeners want an expert to look at their own garden more than they want almost anything else, it costs an afternoon, and the visit frequently ends in a membership.

Behind the scenes

• A morning in the propagation glasshouse with the horticulturists
• The herbarium, the seed bank or the nursery, none of which the public sees
• A tour with the director or the curator
• Early access before opening, when the garden is empty and at its best
• A night in the garden after hours, where the site allows
• Joining a plant-hunting or seed-collecting expedition, where the garden runs them

Events and the site

• A private dinner or party in a glasshouse or a walled garden
• A wedding photography session in the garden
• A picnic in a closed area, with a horticulturist to introduce it
• Photography access outside opening hours
• A season pass, a family membership, or an upgrade

For gardeners

• Quality tools, which serious gardeners have views about
• Bulbs, seed collections, propagation equipment, a cold frame
• Nursery vouchers and grower stock
• Botanical art, prints and photography
• Books, including signed copies from garden writers

What to check or keep out

• Anything accessioned — the plant, the herbarium sheet, the seed bank accession. Propagated material only
• Patented cultivars propagated without a licence
• Material restricted by a collection or seed-bank agreement
• Anything invasive or potentially invasive locally, which a garden distributing would be blamed for correctly
• Live plants shipped across state lines without checking phytosanitary requirements — a real constraint on any online auction
• Threatened or protected species, which carry their own rules
• Memorial dedications as competitive lots

The shipping point is the practical one for an online auction. A garden with distant bidders should either restrict plant lots to local collection or check what may move, and say which on the item page before somebody bids from three states away.

General information, not legal advice for your garden. Plant patent and trademark rules, phytosanitary requirements, invasive species regulation and any collection or seed-bank agreements you hold are all specific — your curator and counsel decide how any of this applies.