Yates 125th birthday Commemorative Seed Tin

10 Apr Yates 125th birthday Commemorative Seed Tin

To celebrate its 125th birthday, Yates has released a commemorative seed tin that holds twelve packets of heritage seed varieties and a booklet outlining the history of this great Australian gardening company. The tin is illustrated on five sides with imagery from the extensive Yates archival collection of photographs, seed packets and advertising material.

The heritage seed packet artwork is based on Yates seed packets from the first half of the 20th century, and the chosen seed varieties were all found in the very earliest Yates seed catalogues – most in the 1887 catalogue that was produced in the year Yates opened for business in Australia. The nine vegetables and three flowers comprise a collection that can be sown throughout the year.

The no-nonsense names of these 1880s seed varieties –

Beetroot Blood Red, Carrot Manchester Table, Cucumber Apple Shaped, Foxglove Fine, Leek Musselburgh, Onion Brown Spanish, Pansy Good Mixed, Radish French Breakfast, Spinach Round, Sunflower Tall Yellow, Tomato Large Red, Watermelon Ice Cream – reflect the typical ‘down-to-earth’ Aussie attitude of the era.

This tin – a great keepsake that commemorates this very special anniversary in Australian garden history – will be available in limited quantities. With its contents of twelve packets it represents great value and will become a long-lasting memento that can be used to store other seed packets in the future.

Expect to pay around $21 for the tin and 12 packets of seed – pretty good value really.