’Money really does grow on trees’: pensioners find £5,000 seed haul in garden

27 August 2025 , 08:12

851     0

’Money really does grow on trees’: pensioners find £5,000 seed haul in garden

A couple who purchased a very rare tree have discovered it has produced seeds that could be worth over £5,000, making it their magic money tree.

Pamela and Alistair Thompson from Wichenford bought the Wollemi pine tree for £70 back in 2010 after learning that it was the type of tree dinosaurs used to feed on.

After planting it in their garden, it finally produced some seeds, and each one can be worth up to £10. Given the number of seeds, they could potentially make thousands on each batch.

The pair, both 75 years old, believe ’it really does prove that money can grow on trees’.

The Wollemi pine dates back to the era when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, earning it the nickname ’dinosaur pine’, and it was feared to have become extinct when the dinosaur disaster changed life on Earth forever.

They replanted it in their garden, and now it’s finally producing seeds, with the couple discovering five large cones growing, each containing around 100 seeds.

Given that the tree is considered to be critically endangered, they hope the seeds will be planted to help it make a comeback.

Pamela said: "It was very exciting to collect seeds from such an ancient tree that lived when dinosaurs roamed—I will definitely try to germinate seeds from a critically endangered tree.

"We have around five large cones which have produced about a hundred or so large seeds each.

"Some of the other cones are smaller, about the size of a golf ball each, which I am not sure will produce seeds this year, but could well do next year.

"It would be lovely to see just how many seeds we can produce, but I have been very surprised by the numbers so far this year."

While there’s money to be made from this tree, the couple hopes to use it to raise funds for charity, and as such, though their haul could be worth around £5,000, they’re actually planning to sell it for about £1 per seed instead.

They said they ’want to make them accessible for people’ and also don’t know how many seeds will end up turning into healthy trees.

Meanwhile, this Sunday (24 August), the couple plans to open their garden to the public as part of the National Garden Scheme.

Thomas Brown

Head of Investigations