Rare For You, Not For Me

Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you'd hear a fellow plant lover remark that a plant is so rare and elusive to him, and yet you actually know where to find it,  not just from one place but several??

Podophyllum delavayi - A Sunny Day at Hardy Exotics

For anyone who has followed our blog for quite some time would have noticed by now that we do love plant shopping and visiting nurseries. In fact we thrive on this activity as much as developing our own garden! Well one can surmise that part of developing ones garden is going out there looking for new plants. And this activity is even more appealing if you love plants, love collecting them, and find the prospect of seeing new plants very exciting...just like we do!

Prostanthera monticola - Higher at Lower Kenneggy Nurseries

There are loads of plant lovers out there who behave almost exactly like us (with a little variance here and there of course) and happily share their plant buying adventures and haul to others on a regular basis (just look on our blog roll!). And through them we discover more plants to look out for and beef up our wish list even more. Vice versa, I'm sure we do the same to others.

Encephalartos lehmannii - Palm Crazy at The Palm Centre

Not all of our plant shopping trips and nursery visits result in purchases, even if the intention was to purchase but seeing a place in person still results in a mental impression that we can refer to from time to time. Not everything happens of the moment, at a later time we may think of buying a plant and then we remember where we've seen or possibly seen them before which results in visiting that nursery again. And we do the same to others who ask us for help in sourcing plants, if we have an idea where to get them we tell them even if we don't have that particular plant ourselves.

Liriodendron tulipifera 'Aureomarginatum' - Pass the Duchy

And because we have and continue to visit so many plant nurseries on a regular basis we are more aware of the stocking levels and what type of plants each nursery we visited have. Of which of the nurseries stock particular groups of plants better than the others, and more importantly what they actually have and what's likely still to come in that's not (or not yet) listed on their catalogue/website. Then there are the rarities too that are in small quantities and unlikely to ever make it to their catalogue/website but will happily be sold if spotted in person at the nursery. 

Meconopsis paniculata - Grab Your Raincoat and Head for the Beeches!

Just recently we heard someone say that a particular plant is so rare and elusive that he's given up hope after looking for it for years. We said not to give up hope as we can name at least six nurseries who sell it!

Yucca aloifolia - A Trip to Todds Botanics

Or someone (not a plant newbie) get so excited at spotting a plant in our garden and asking us where in the world we bought it from and how did we manage to get hold of it, only to tell them we bought it from a nearby garden centre.

Or someone declare that a plant is so rare that only a select few have it and that it's impossible to get it anywhere else. That is until you visit a nursery or two that we know of that sell it, often they have multiple quantities of it too!

Or even if we haven't visited a nursery in person how come we know that place stocks such a 'rare' plant? Google it baby!

Aeonium 'Sunburst' - Pining for Plants

Moments like that make us appreciate our activities even more and I personally feel privileged that the two of us thoroughly enjoy nursery hopping so the boundaries of nursery visits is almost limitless. If one of us did not enjoy plant shopping trips as much as the other then that would have been a serious limitation.

Sharing our nursery visit is something we both enjoy too. It helps others be aware and track down certain plants and our own way of helping the nursery industry as well.

Cannomois grandis - Technicolour Trewidden

Of the sort of moments I've mentioned above, the most unforgettable one was when a gentleman in Cornwall once told us excitedly on how he has managed to track down a very rare plant after years of searching, in a nursery in Essex (think opposite ends of the country). And that he has asked a friend who lives there to pick one up for him and that his friend will personally deliver it to him which will entail an eight hour drive (the nursery didn't do mail order then). He has paid for it and everything has been arranged...

I didn't have the heart to tell him that a nursery only a mile from where he lives sells that plant.

Chamaedorea radicalis - A Stopover at The Palm House

If you like plants and gardening, take the time to visit as many nurseries and even plant fairs as much as you possibly can. It's amazing what's out there. And there are so many rare and unusual plants that are not that rare at all (but unusual still). Sometimes all you need to do is visit then look...

Mark :-)

Posted in: Alternative Eden , exotic blog , Nursery visit , thoughts