What to do with 12,000 individually potted yellow marigolds????

Hi Forum,

The details are not public yet and so I can't go into too much detail, but we have a grower producing 12,000 individually potted yellow marigolds that will be used for at an event for just one day in East Anglia.

The question is what to do with them afterwards ....

We have offered some to local hospitals, but they seem reluctant to arrange their own transport and I can’t justify the cost in transporting them. But hopefully they will take a few thousand from us.

It would be nice to resell some of them, but I don’t want it to turn into a hassle and so I would sell in batches of 1000 pots for around £300 per 1000 flowers, which is significantly less than what our grower is charging us. Who is likely to want to buy so many Marigolds in such large quantities? Garden centres don’t seen keen :-(



Thanks for any help you can offer

 

I forgot to mention that they are African marigolds and while it would be nice to sell some of them I would like to hear of any charities you think might be interested.

 

Anthony, try contacting your local council Parks Department, they may take them. Also have you any large mansion/estates in your area that may be interested.

 

Since the council have been asked to continue taking our money but without providing the services, many parks and public spaces are in danger of being neglected. Round my way, groups of ordinary folk are doing what they can to look after the parks and public floral displays themselves. I'm sure that's true elsewhere in the country. Maybe you could see if there are any such groups round your way?

 

a lot would depend upon when they were available, size of pot etc..............

 

Would local schools be interested? There's a lot of emphasis on gardening as part of the curriculum these days, though more on the veg/food production side. Also, they probably wouldn't pay much. They might well be interested in a freebie, though....

 

the olympic village ....

I know that they are sorting the landscaping and gardens there ....

not sure if the marigolds will be in bloom during the olympics?