Who remembers shop owners selling little bundles of seedlings wrapped in damp newspaper?

Before the invention of thin-walled cheap plastic pots in the late 1950s, seedlings were either raised from seed or purchased in bundles from growers who raised the seedlings in garden beds.

‘Gardeners got their seeds in packets from suppliers like Sauers and Jacksons. Mrs Whittaker in Iron Street sold seedlings, wrapped in newspaper, at my florist shop in Mary Street. Mrs Sisney also sold seedlings this way. Also, if you wanted marigolds, for example, you went along to one of the ladies and they dug up the required number of tiny plants from their garden beds. There were no punnets.’ (Cockburn, 2015)

Betty Cockburn was a florist in Mary Street for many years. With a lifelong love of flowers, she was secretary of the Gympie Municipal Horticultural Society in the 1950s, and later patron between 2007 and 2016 (Cockburn, 2015).

Anderson’s, Petersen’s and Yates were familiar brands of seeds.

Advertisement for seedlings and Double J Seeds at J. Jackson and Co (Mulholland, 1985).

Advertisement for Petersen’s seeds at Fosters (Mulholland, 1985).

Advertisement for Anderson’s packet seeds in Gympie Times, 11 September, 1948, p12.

Advertisement for Yates packet seeds in Gympie Times, 9 September, 1948, p8.

After success in New Zealand, Arthur Yates opened a branch of Yates in Sussex Street, Sydney, in 1886. By 1893 Arthur had launched his seed packets for home gardeners. He prided himself on always selling the best quality seeds and ‘Yates Reliable Seeds’ became the company’s catchcry. As time passed Yates became more and more an integral part of the garden, selling a range of products that included fertilisers, sprays, pots, potting mix and tools as well as seeds (Yates, 2024).

Seeds were so popular, that they even featured as the design of postcards for Australia Post.

Anderson’s Superior Seeds postcards:

 Postcard (front): ‘Choicest Strains, Vegetable Seeds, Farm Seeds, Grass Seeds, Flower Seeds postcard series (1905), Available: www.auspostalhistory.com.

Postcard (back): ‘Choicest Strains, Vegetable Seeds, Farm Seeds, Grass Seeds, Flower Seeds postcard series (1905), Available: www.auspostalhistory.com.

Gympie plantsman and former nurseryman Noel Ellis recalled in a 2016 interview:

‘My earliest memories stem from the early 1950s. In those days all seedlings were sold as bare-rooted plants. This was in the days before the advent of plastic pots and throw-away seedling punnets, long before potting mix and all the other mixes we use today were available.

Gympie had a couple of outlets that sold plants. They were mainly produce shops. The one I remember was Jackson and Jackson’s Produce. The manager was Norm Laidlaw, our neighbour from Bells Bridge.

The seedlings were grown in garden beds in full sun. When they were ready for sale, about a dozen seedlings along with a small quantity of wet sawdust was rolled in newspaper to keep the roots moist.  After about a week, all unsold plants were dumped.

The ‘rejects’ were dumped close by the driveways and were readily accessible. So, as a small lad, this is where I found my love of growing plants. The seedlings were transplanted into jam tins or whatever else I could find.’

(Ellis, 2016)

Remains of Norm Laidlaw’s seedling beds. Photograph source: Linda Percival, 2017.

Guest blog by volunteer Robyn
(Thank you to Robyn who researched and collated information for this blog post).

References:

-Australian Postal History & Social Philately. (1905). Choicest Strains, Vegetable Seeds, Farm Seeds, Grass Seeds, Flower Seeds postcard [Photograph]. Available: www.auspostalhistory.com.

-Cockburn, B (2015), Interview, Gympie.

-Dot, C. (1950). Yates Seed Book. Australia: Wartime catalogue. pp.1-25.

-Ellis, N (2016), Interview, Gympie.

-Gympie Times. (1948). Advertisement for Anderson’s seeds. Gympie Times. 11th of September 1948, p.12.

-Gympie Times. (1948). Advertisement for Yates seeds. Gympie Times. 9th of September 1948, p.8.

-Mulholland. (1985). Gympie’s Jubilee, Gympie in Its Cradle Days. 2nd ed. Gympie: Gympie and District Historical Society. pp.3-96.

-Percival, L. (2017). Remains of Norm Laidlaw’s seedling beds. [Photograph]. Gympie: Linda Percival.

-Yates. (2024). History of Yates. [Online]. Yates. Last Updated: 2024. Available at: http://www.yates.com.au/about/history [Accessed July 2024].