The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Plant suppliers => Topic started by: Alisdair on August 01, 2011, 04:11:57 PM
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The MGS keeps a list of suppliers of plants (or seeds) suited to mediterranean climates, for this forum. I have attached the current version. Please note that I have not checked details with all individual suppliers.
To see the list, click on the Supplier List blue link below this message.
I'd be very grateful for any further recommendations, particularly in the thinly covered countries! (In California I have already whittled down the candidates to a manageable number as there are so many possibilities - but there as elsewhere do please post any obvious omissions.)
Also, do please post any particularly good experience with any of these suppliers. (If you've had bad experience you may prefer to email me privately.)
I will revise the list from time to time, in the light of your postings. The current version includes all recommendations received up to and including February 2020, among them several recent interesting additions in Italy.
Incidentally, whenever I update the list, the "number of times downloaded" zeroes back to 0 - so it very much underestimates the number of people who have looked at the list (this time when it was zeroed, my running total of all previous downloads had got up to 3,064). And if the number is low, it means the list has been recently changed.
Thanks, everyone!
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Alisdair, you have no Italian nurseries there - would you like me to add some? I can think of at least a dozen that are VERY worthwhile, reliable and special.
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That would be terrific, Alessandra! If you either post their names here or send me an email, I'll add them to the list.
Thanks very much,
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Alisdair, you don't have the Beth Chatto nursery in Colchester in your list? To my mind its one of the best in the UK
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Yes, Beth Chatto are excellent, Pamela, but as there are so very many good nurseries in the UK we decided that we would include UK nurseries only if they sent by mail order to other countries, and Beth Chatto don't.
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Alisdair, I used this nursery, when I lived in Cornwall.
Since I have been in Crete, I have ordered a parcel of plants from them, each year.
They always turn up well packaged and in good condition.
Daisy
http://www.cornwallgardens.com/
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Thanks, Daisy, I've added them to the draft list: interesting that they do restios, among other plants that would be OK in mediterranean gardens.
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Start with this: http://www.leessenzedilea.com/
The richest choice of Salvia in Europe, I believe.
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Thanks very much, Alessandra; they look great, especially as you say for salvias, and other aromatic plants. I'll add them to the list.
Looking forward to some more suggestions from you!
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Does anybody know any Greek nurseries that you may recommend? I don't see any in the list of plants suppliers. My main sources are the local markets and a couple of small nurseries with rather a limited range of plants, and the plants are seldom properly named.
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CITRUS: Oscar Tintori is the oldest grower of citruses in Tuscany: www.oscartintori.it ; the directory of plants in PDF is here (http://www.oscartintori.it/eng/laserradegliagrumi.html) . They do ship abroad, but one must telephone or write. I think it is the widest choice of old cultivars in Italy, and the plants are beautifully grown in old pots.
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Hello from southern Portugal, (zone 10, in parts !)
I have a query about bulb suppliers - we have trouble finding a good supply of the many native bulbs of the Algarve. I have had some from Lauw de Jager at Bulbes'Argences and we have used Parkers Dutch Bulbs from the UK. The problem has always been that no one will send large amounts of the paperwhite Narcissus papyraceus directly to Portugal from UK as they have been imported already ???
This is a native here and perfect for using in our gardens. There is a fairly small range that we would like to have in quantity - for example, Sternbergia lutea, Scilla peruviana, N. papyraceus, Allium senescens, Amaryllis belladonna. I know, nothing particularly rare but where can we get them in hundreds ??? Any suggestions gratefully received.
We have put together bulk orders from local members and had stuff shipped out to us from UK but, time in warehouses and vans is not good for plants, or bulbs !!
PS our local Lidl stores were selling Scilla peruviana as pot plants last spring, word went round like wildfire and they were all sold out within days .......
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Have you tried Dix Export BV in the Netherlands (http://www.dixexport.com/?module=page&pc_id=12)? They have a vast selection, we (Blomstervenners Klubb, a Norwegian garden society) have imported lots of bulbs from them in bulk for our members many times.
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Rosie, Lauw de Jager in my experience sells healthy material of many kinds of bulbs but daffodils we imported from nursery in England were all heavily virused. In case you import plants in quantity please think about quarantining them before planting directly in the ground. It would be a disaster if you introduce a narcissus virus in your area.
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Though of no immediate help but can I suggest that you try encouraging local growers/nursery people to cultivate them for sale within Portugal? After all presumably you have the ideal climate to do this! Division will gradually produce quantities of specific clones but from seed large quantities can be produced surprisingly quickly in good fertile conditions and they are less likely to be diseased.
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That is very sensible. At first, they seem to grow slowly but if they are not pricked the first year they do very well from then on. By the thrid year if adequately treated there will be hundreds or thousands of new healthy plants for sale. And three years in gardening times is a short period.
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Here in Australia we have to rely on importing seeds, not plants. Would you like to add these to the list?
http://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/
http://www.rareplants.de
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Alisdair is out of contact at the moment, but many thanks for your contribution to his list.
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I have not used it, but some seeds of some mediterranean species seem to be available from Stephen Mifsud's www.MaltaWildPlants.com (http://www.MaltaWildPlants.com).
Details - https://securetransactions.org.uk/001/MWP_FormSeeds5.html (https://securetransactions.org.uk/001/MWP_FormSeeds5.html).
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See David Bracey's recommendation of a French supplier of over 100 Acacia species here (http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=259.msg2038#msg2038).
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Thanks very much for all the useful and helpful comments about bulb suppliers. It was particularly good to get the recommendation about Dix as I have just got their catalogue. As you will see from the Branch Events section, we have found an MGS member who gardens here, and who also has a nursery in Holland, to select good quality bulbs for us. I have deliberately kept the list short as we hope to attract good discount for quantities useful for naturalising. I will keep you posted with how we get on .....
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I have found this company in Knaresborough North Yorks called Miniature Bulbs and I am buying some Narcissus broussonetii from them. Does anyone know if they have had virused plants? I have also purchased Allium caeruleum and A. roseum from a company Peter Nyssen. What happens to Narcissus which have a virus. I have no idea what to look for. How long is a quarantine period?
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Pamela, The trouble is that you can't spot virus by looking at the bulbs, and usually can't spot narcissus virus even in the growing plant. But see my earlier answer in the bulbs section for some visible symptoms by clicking here (http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=348.msg2001#msg2001).
I don't know about either of these suppliers. Has anyone else used them?
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Thank you for that Alisdair.. very useful...I hadn't read the rest of that thread.
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Thanks to all for interesting and practical solutions to my query on bulb suppliers. We will follow these up, unfortunately, I know of no one trying to grow bulbs here on a commercial scale. This is a sad reflection of the general lack of interest in providing native plants, bulbs and trees for us to buy for use in our gardens. We will keep the pressure up !
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A very good plant nursery in Austria:
Website:
(english):
http://www.sarastro-stauden.com/en/katalog-versand/
(french):
http://www.sarastro-stauden.com/fr/katalog-versand/
(italian):
http://www.sarastro-stauden.com/it/katalog-versand/
(spain):
http://www.sarastro-stauden.com/es/katalog-versand/
Catalogue (german language, latin species)
http://www.sarastro-stauden.com/wp-content/uploads/Sortiment2010_2011.pdf
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As for Italy, at a recent plant show in Rome I spoke to several vendors. Most of them were willing to send things within Europe but often experienced problems with couriers who were not willing to deal with packages with destinations outside Italy. One or two regularly do send small packages abroad, getting around this problem by labelling packages as "biscuits" etc. Advice generally was "Call us and we'll try". Several nurseries, where online shopping is not available, ask for a bank transfer and are unwilling to take credit card details over the phone,
Specialising in a wide range of Mediterranean plants and very knowledgeable, is the French based http://pepinieredevaugines.fr/
I can certainly confirm Alevin's high opinion of the amazing selection of Salvias that are to be found at http://www.leessenzedilea.com/. Excellent service, good quality, healthy plants. I ordered 2 plants recently and they were waiting for me as promised at the show.
An order for 11 various plants placed 3 weeks ago arrived promptly from http://www.vivaipriola.it/ . All plants in excellent health and very reasonably priced (by Italian standards).
Last year I had excellent service by mail order of various types of plants including passiflora from http://www.tropicamente.it/home/index.htm
Another with a selection of plants is http://www.ilpeccatovegetale.com/catalogo.php but only for Italin deliveries I'm afraid.
Lots of Irises can be found at http://www.principeiris.it - No problems with exporting :-)
Roses (specialising in older varieties) at http://www.mondorose.it/.
Bulbs at http://www.raziel.it & http:/ & /www.florianabulbose.eu/ . I have bought excellent quality bulbs from both these friendly and knowlegeable suppliers.
Very extensive selection of Hemerocallis at http://www.hemerocallis.it/varieta.htm
Wide variety of plants including export to Europe at http://www.vivaiodeglinnocenti.com/ Could try
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Thanks for a very helpful list David. We had the show Murabilia, on the Walls of Lucca a week or two before your Rome show. Gerard Weiner , pepiniere Vaugines, always has a fantastic variety of plants and no matter how firm my resolve I always buy more than I intend. There is always something new to me which I want to try. This year it was Salvia pachyphylla and an Astragalus 'Polar Bear', which Gerard described as a monster and impossible to grow. So, of course I immediately want to try it.
The organisers of the Lucca show have not yet resolved the problem of carrying the bought plants down from the walls to a, usually, distant car. They must be losing a lot of sales. I find that once I have stocked up with Gerard it is impossible to carry more plants. Next year I am taking my own wheel barrow as it is by far the best opportunity I have of acquiring interesting plants.
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Very many thanks, David, for all those suggestions for our suppliers list.
Thanks to Guenther, too, for what I think is our first suggestion of an Austrian supplier.
Joanna, Do you know if Gerard Weiner sends plants by post to other parts of Europe? His website doesn't seem to say.
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Yes Alisdair, Gerard Weiner has sent plants to me in Italy. We have a problem with very slow postal and courier services so the results are not always happy. I could walk from France in half the time it takes for delivery.
I forgot to say that GW says that he is a member of MGS.
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Thanks, Joanna!
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After a wonderful visit to Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia for the AGM, I am looking for seeds of the Teucrium heterophyllum, that we saw at one of the gardens. And has anyone tried buying from www.rareplants.de?
Cheers, RT
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Richard,
I have been buying seeds [of bulbs...] from rareplants.de for the last 5 or 6 years, i can only say good words about them as seeds arrive in just few days time and have been always fresh with high percentage of germination.
Seeds are packed in paper seed's envalopes then inside naylon bags so that they are kept dry.
They always add some free seeds to try.
I higly raccomend them.
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Hallo Richard
Any chance of you posting photos of some of the plants you saw?
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Just a note to say that I have added several new suppliers to the list - see first message in this thread
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Alisdair I have just recently been using the list and some web sites appear to have changed.
Pépinières Gérard Cavatore, Bormes-les-Mimosas, Var
www.pepinieres-cavatore.fr
is now http://www.mimosa-cavatore.com/
Jardin de Rochevieille, Viviers, Ardèche
jaroche.club.fr
is now http://jaroche.perso.neuf.fr/
Pépinière de l'Armalette, Sillans-la-Cascade, Var
armalette.pagesperso-orange.fr
is now http://www.pepiniere-armalette.fr
Hope I am correct?
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Thanks very much for letting me know about those changes - I've updated the Suppliers List.
It's really helpful to be told about changes like that!
And, everybody, do please pass on any comments about the suppliers on the list, or indeed any other supplier!
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Just to say that the list of plant suppliers mentioned in the first message (http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=158.msg504#msg504)in this thread has been updated, with a few changes/additions.
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Just to say that in response to a message from David Dickinson (thanks, David!) I've now updated the Supplier List attached to the first message in this thread (http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=158.msg504#msg504), with one or two recent additions.
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The MGS Italian Language website has a page with recommended plant suppliers in Italy:
http://www.associazionegiardinomediterraneo.it/raccomandano.html
They are arranged geographically from North to South. Whilst the commentary for each is in Italian, a click on the photo will take you to their website (where there is one) which often has English. Priola and Essenza di Lea are both there.
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Thank you Yvonne for the list. I have just checked a few of them and they DO have certainl plants I have been trying to acquire for a while now. Next step is to order them.
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What an exemplary list, Yvonne, particularly with the tempting thumbnails, and the hyperlinks :). Congratulations!
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Just to say the first message in this thread now has the latest version of the suppliers list for downloading, with two or three recent additions - click here (http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=158.msg504)
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South African bulbs grower in Spain.
http://todoplant.wixsite.com/plant
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There were some Greek nurseries on the old list but as someone else mentioned there are none on the new list. I thought most of the old ones were still current including the lady near Athens who has a specialist native plant nursery (which Fleur will know) to which, if they were not on that original list, I would add Poulimenos www.poulimenos.gr for cactus and succulents & Horomidis www.horomidis.gr a general nursery close to Athens but decent plants though you have to drill down into its website to find them. I also thought another Forum member had recommended a specialist rose nursery near Thessaloniki but I've lost the reference.
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Thanks very much for those two suggestions, Janet. I'll add them to the list next time I post a revised version, if they do mail order (do you know if they do - their websites don't seem to mention that?). We've never actually had any Greek nurseries on the list yet, as it's for places that will send out plants at least within their own country (and ideally further afield too). Local MGS branches often have lists of more local recommended suppliers.
Chrysanthi, the lady near Athens that you mention, is apparently still going strong but doesn't do mail order. She's said to be particularly good on Greek native plants. As you say, I'm sure Fleur can give directions.
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Just a note to say that I've now uploaded the latest version of our recommended Suppliers List (http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=158.msg504), with recent additions - many thanks to all who've made recommendations!