Donations

Donation Guidelines

Sources of donations - Nursery donations come in many ways. The most common way is visitors bringing items to the nursery during open hours. If the nursery is closed, people sometimes leave items just outside the gate or throw items over the fence into the arboretum. Occasionally, we get a call asking us to pick up items from a person's residence. Finally, volunteers may find free items offered on websites like Nextdoor or Freecycle.

Be careful accepting donations at a person's home (or business) because our insurance does not cover us outside the arboretum. You are on your own. (Need to check this).

We also receive periodic plant donations from vendors. Edmond's Plaza Florist gives us weekly donations of things that haven't sold and are getting old. We also get frequent donations from Every Bloomin' Thing in the form of both plants and pots. 

Donation process - Sort through the donated items for things we cannot accept (see below). Ask the donor if they want a donation receipt. If so, give them a pre-signed donation receipt form and ask them to list their donated items and also to estimate their value. It is important that the donor provide the estimated value, it should not come from us. Give them the white copy of the completed form and retain the yellow copy. In the greenhouse, in the middle drawer under the point-of-sale cabinet you will find pre-signed donation forms in a plastic ziploc. Place the yellow copy of the donation form in this same ziploc.

Note that donations become the property of SMAS.  We are free to do what we want with them. So, we cannot accept special requests a donor may make for a donation. We are free to use a donated plant for cuttings (rather than for sale), free to recycle it or trash it.  We cannot honor requests for displaying a plant or object in the Arboretum, Rose Garden, Pumphouse, etc.

Items we accept

• Most glazed pottery and terra cotta pottery (unless it it really ugly). Minor chips are ok but not cracks.

• Decorative plastic pots - accept at your discretion.

• Most plants but check for disease. Also a horribly misshapenned shrub or tree should be rejected as it is unlikely we can make it attractive enough to sell.

• Black plastic pots, 1 gallon and larger. Orange plastic pots, 1 gallon and larger.

Items we do not accept

• Chemicals

• Small (4 inch or smaller) plastic pots

• Garden art (flamingos, lawn jockeys, etc.) unless you think it has potential

• Landscape materials unless you have a specific use for it

• Plant we already have plenty of, e.g., fortnite lily, spider plant, ...

Black Plastic Pots - Occasionally we run low on 1 gallon black plastic pots. If more are needed, Wegman's Nursery has been a good source in the past. Also, Green Fashion Nursery often has some.