Exotic Plant Sale Raises Money For Lotusland

An exotic plant sale brought in thousands of dollars to Lotusland this weekend.

The third annual event drew more than 100 plant aficionados from all over California to Montecito.

The plants up for sale and auction aren’t common and can’t be found at nurseries. Some of the greenery is more than 4 decades old and some even nearly extinct in the wild.

The Calibanus, a spontaneous hybrid plant that started growing at Lotusland, was one of the 12 plants up for live auction. For the past two years, a calibanus was sold for $10,000.

“This is truly a one-of-a-kind plant that originated here at Lotusland,” said Paul Mills, the assistant curator.

“These plants are very exceptional. They are very rare, they are hard to find, you cannot get them in the trade. Many of the plants that are on sale here are from people’s private collections,” said Gwen Stauffer, the Lotusland executive director.

All the proceeds from Saturday’s auction will help maintain Lotusland gardens.