Alpine Garden Society Victorian Group

                              Otto Fauser 

                              9 March 1938 - 15 February 2024

                                                                The keeper of the Crocus 

It is with great sadness that I let you know of the passing of a great plantsman Otto Fauser and pastry chef. Otto emigrated to Australia with his family from southern Germany at the age of 14. He gardened in Bentleigh, Victoria then moved to Olinda after his father passed away. He created a rock garden on a steep block with help and moving many large rocks himself into position that pleased his eye.

Otto grew every Crocus that was known at the time of his gardening life and 80 varieties of Fritillaria  many Galanthus and other dwarf bulbs, but he was known to us as The Keeper of the Crocus for the OPCA. He was generous in handing out his treasured plants. You only had to say thats a beautiful plant and it would be packaged up and labelled for you to take home you never left empty handed. He wanted to share his plants around in case he lost it knowing someone would still have it if he did loose it, because of the difficulty in importing plants into Australia it was important to him that we kept them going.

Dinner or afternoon tea was an exquisite affair with all the lovely old china used in the presentation of delicious food that was simple but tasty and beautifully presented. Everything Otto did was stylish and done with taste. 

He was friends with many famous gardeners of our time and kept in regular touch with them. Some of the overseas gardeners coming to see him when in Australia.

I will miss our chats and not being able to ask him what something is because he could alway identify the plant for me.

Otto had a few plants named after him a Crocus Fauseri an Iris, Galanthus and Pleione Otto Fauser (below). He was very proud to have these plants named after him.