By Cheryl Jahn

David Douglas plant sale is back

May 16, 2025 | 4:00 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Whether you want some pretty purple primulus or lush lovage, it will all be for sale this weekend at the University of Northern BC, courtesy of a band of master gardeners and the David Douglas Botanical Garden Society.

“The creation of the Botanical Gardens Society was to develop a garden here that would help us understand what would grow well here,” explains Master Gardener Grace Morrice. “So it was really a collective of people who have that interest in trying to grow things and understanding what grows here and how to grow it here. Because for us, it’s very different than where most people in the province garden. So it’s quite a different experience. And also not only because of where we are, but because of the soils we’re working with, stuff like that.”

All the plants on sale are locally grown. You won’t see any ornamental roses here. Just the hardy variety.

“Basically anything that Zone Three or less like Zone Two,” explains Miller. “And then if you’re down in the Bowl area, you can do Zone Four. It’s the hardiness zone. So it depends on what the temperature is during the winter. So if it’s minus 40, well, it’s one zone. And if it’s minus 50, it’s definitely not going to grow here.” A typical sale day at the university on the May long weekend sees hundreds of people roaming the area, looking for the perfect plant.

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The masters, Birthe Miller and Grace Morrice, paint a picture of what a novice should expect. It is a bit chaotic.

“It is, but it’s organized,” says Birthe Miller, Master Gardener. “So I have about 60 volunteers who will be here, and we will move all the plants that are in our compound here out into the parking lot. They’ll all be organized by perennials, annuals, tomatoes, that kind of thing. And then we will have people who will come and we can talk to you about the different plants and things, and then you just come and shop.”

“A lot of plants and a lot of help from volunteers and hopefully a lot of customers,” says Morrice. “This is a major fundraiser for the society, and we try to have something of everything from herbs, perennials, annuals, both vegetable and flower trees, shrubs, vines, you name it.” And gardeners on hand – and there is a small legion of them – know their stuff.

So, if you’re in the market for a plant that will survive a tough winter and thrive, best pop up to the university this Sunday or Monday to snap up some truly Northern-born and raised.

CJ/GF