The biggest Cacti and Succulent auction in NZ EVER!!

[bit]

Hi All

I just received this rather sobering email from Corromandel Cacti, and thought I should share. For those of you who don't know, CC is NZ's biggest cacti and succulent nursery by far, having the best and biggest variety of products. They are continually bringing new and interesting plants into the NZ market. CC is also Martin's (the owner, pictured below) life work and I know that despite the tone in the email he must be absolutely shattered :/ This really is a sad day for the C+S lovers of NZ. It's no small thing that a number of plants will cease to be available anywhere in NZ after this event.

Coromandel Cacti’s Newsletter and Announcement of Huge Plant Auction October 16th 2010.

Newsletter Part: When you read below what is happening here you will perhaps forgive that there is not much chitchat and interesting horticultural trivia this time around. To all friends, family, and acquaintances who think we are exceptionally rude in our long silences please forgive us, you probably haven’t any idea what we have been going through the last couple of years.

Auction Part: Due to (unplanned) lease expiration Coromandel Cacti are downsizing our specialist cactus and succulent nursery. We are selling off the vast majority of our older plants, breeding specimens, motherstocks, groundbedded plants, plus huge numbers of retailer-ready product. We are vacating 24,000 square feet of greenhouse space! We will retain 8,000 square feet on the same site, staying in business but not growing the large landscaping plants that we have here now. Some of these species will disappear from availability after this auction.

This once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire slowgrowing beautiful plants is brought about by Transpower’s need to relocate cables into a big trench running through most of our greenhouses and all of our groundbeds. Yes, sad but true. But, at least, let’s hope you come away with some goodies.

There will be Auction Lots focussed around:

· Retailer-ready products (some in mixed packs of 50 – 100 plants), others by genus or species. Including new releases!

· Trays of plants for nurseries, for potting up or growing on.

· Plants suited to the Plant Hire industry e.g. cylindrical-leafed Sansevieria’s new to the trade!

· Large specimens, really large, bring a trailer and a team. Also some humungous specimens, bring a Hiab and a team! (actually don’t bring them until at least the day after!)

· Dig Your Own plants: bring a spade.

· Gardener packs of assorted potted landscaping plants, hardened off and ready to plant.

· Collectables like caudiciform Lump Plants, nice flowering cacti, Lithops, mesems, Pachypodiums, rare stapeliads.

· Some dry goods and equipment.

· Sorry, no Echeverias in this auction, we need them for exporting.

Some keepable items will have reserves but many will be at $1 reserve as they’ve got to go!

Pre-Auction sale week: Monday to Friday 11th-15th October, 9am - 5pm. Buy Now prices will help move some plants before the auction.

Note: there may be another auction of large ground-bedded plants at our other site (Ireland Road) within two months, this hinges on Transpower's final requirements. Make sure we have your email address for notification if our next nightmare comes to life!

We can recommend for out-of-towners a place to stay that is just across the road from the nursery, Sylvia Park Motel. Here is a link to their website and rates which are very good, for example the two bedroom family unit is excellent value at $140 incl gst per night for 3 people.

Go to http://www.sylviaparkmotel.co.nz/index.php?code=7 for more details.

How the Auction will work:

Auction starts at 10 am sharp. Registration and Viewing all week 11th to 15th and on Auction Day from 8 am. No normal nursery sales on Auction Day.

All bidders must register and use their Bidder No. when bidding.

Because the pre-Auction Sale Week will thin out the Lots until Friday it will not be possible to have a Catalogue prepared in advance of the auction. We will pull together a list on the eve of the auction to the best of our ability. We are accepting absentee bids (with limit cheques) up until 4 pm on Friday 15th, or by email without payment for our regular internet buyers, always presuming the Lot is still in the Auction. The highest postal bid above reserve will be halved to be used as a starting bid, and then bidded up to its limit. You can ask, but no guarantees we can answer, detailed questions over the next two weeks, we are busy beyond belief.

We will be trying to get thru on the Saturday, but it is possible some Lots may have to be held over until the next morning, let’s hope the weather is good and we get through on Saturday!

Sequence: 10 am. Start in Top Yard sales area, then big garden display bed near highway, PF2 Aloes and groundbed, PF1 groundbed, New Concrete Pad, Tall Plant House, Top of A, BUB, No. 5, No. 4, No. 3, No.2, No.1, Equipment & Dry Goods, E1, E2 , E3, E4, E5, E6, E7. A map may be available soon and thus enable you to estimate at what time you need to be here.

Payment before you leave (except for Coromandel Cacti's existing account holders). Payment by cash, eftpos, or credit card at the nursery.

If you need to leave before the end of the auction you can pay if you know what your winning bids totalled. Your payment will be checked later against the auction clerks' tally. All payments will get a GST receipt. Winnings may only be taken before the auction ends at our discretion, and in areas well away from the auction.

There will be short breaks about every 2 hours, 5 - 20 minutes only so bring a cut lunch.

First priority on removal goes to disabled and out-of-towners. We will work until dark assisting removal of winnings but please don’t assume that your purchases can be removed on the day as parking and other reasons may make this impossible. People who have won dig-your-own Lots will probably need to come back during the following week to safely effect their removal. The nursery site is tight, with driveways and turning areas also tight, so cooperation is requested to allow a staggered managed removal, which we will do our best to supervise in an orderly way with no damage, taking all care for your winnings (but no responsibility). Large trucks and equipment coming on site needs to be coordinated with us, ph 09 5274052.

Bidders should check the firmness of taller plants before rapid handling. We hope all are establishing well but no guarantees that they can be handled or transported with rough or rapid movements. In general we recommend handling succulents with far more care than most people exercise!

There will be two weeks to remove your winnings, after that plants will be disposed of without compensation or consultation, unless by arrangement. We have a serious programme of demolition to commence at the end of October.

Parking on site during the auction will be limited to disabled and out-of-towners. We have arranged more parking at Evan John Philip International furniture factory on the corner of Waipuna Rd and Mt Wellington Highway (about 150 m. south of our entrance gate). There are two entrances to their carparks, one off each of the roads. Parking also in Rowlands Avenue (about 50 m. south of our entrance gate). Also, Countdown Supermarket in Penrose Rd is only 300 metres away and has a huge underground carpark (never much utilised) and sells great fresh rolls, tomatoes and hot chickens to make an easy lunch. Keeping our driveway mostly uncluttered will help, at the end of Saturday, as many as possible to extract their winnings and get on the way, but, big bidders, please be prepared for a delay of a day or two.

If you would like to be taken off our mailing list please just ask us to unsubscribe you.

e.g. Hit Reply and title your email “unsubscribe me please”, making sure your email address is clear to us, not hidden. We have sent this email because we thought you may be interested in our newsletter or auction or progress down life’s highway.

Edited October 3, 2010 by bit

[solomon]

that sucks, i was lucky enough to visit coromandel cacti last time i was in auckland, they had reasonable prices and a humongous amount of well looked after plants.

too bad im at the other end of the country or i would be in there like a vulture ;)

[AndyAmine.]

Wow, that is just aweful, a sad day indeed and a real shame to see it happen over something so rediculous.

Wish I was in NZ!!

We should do some bluck boys or something, try and get some imports done?>

[bℓσωηG]

bluck boys? im in!

[AndyAmine.]

Lol, not sure how bulk buy turned into bluck boys but there you go.

My new keyboard is much bigger than my last one so I have been having trouble with my touch typing.

[Rabaelthazar]

Lol, not sure how bulk buy turned into bluck boys but there you go.

My new keyboard is much bigger than my last one so I have been having trouble with my touch typing.

 

he he he... I though "Bluck Boys" was you trying to get the NZ accent into print.... couldn't figure out what you were planning to do to them, but.... to each his own.

[bit]

Just a reminder to any other Kiwis... auction is tomorrow. I've been in a couple of times this week and scoped the place out. They truly have some awesome massive plants in their groundbeds. Going to be such a shame to lose the resource. I honestly don't think they're going to be able to auction everything tomorrow. It will probably spill over into Sunday. It's looking like over 600 lots, which means 40 seconds per auction over 8 hours lol.

Anyhow, quite excited even though I won't be able to stay for the whole thing :/

[faslimy]

Just a reminder to any other Kiwis... auction is tomorrow. I've been in a couple of times this week and scoped the place out. They truly have some awesome massive plants in their groundbeds. Going to be such a shame to lose the resource. I honestly don't think they're going to be able to auction everything tomorrow. It will probably spill over into Sunday. It's looking like over 600 lots, which means 40 seconds per auction over 8 hours lol.

Anyhow, quite excited even though I won't be able to stay for the whole thing :/

 

GL bit, hope you have some spare cash. there are some amazing specimens at that place.

[solomon]

yar good luck dude, im sure there will be enough for everybody lucky enough to attend. still kicking myself for not buying a one of his "super spiny" trichos when i was up there, thought i had enough cacti to take home via plane already ;D

[bit]

So anyway, I went and I purchased about $100 worth of stuff. Only a few trichs tho. Sadly I had to leave 3 hours before the end, and they hadn't got up to some of the plants I was interested in :/

I'll post up some pics tomorrow probably. I will need a trailer to get them home lol.

Apparently they didn't get through absolutely everything, so there's a little bit of hope there's still something interesting left over. I'll head back first thing in the morning.