List of plant suppliers

  • 46 Replies
  • 65911 Views
*

Alisdair

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
List of plant suppliers
« on: August 01, 2011, 04:11:57 PM »
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!
« Last Edit: February 14, 2020, 06:13:27 PM by Alisdair »
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

*

Alevin

  • Jr. Member
    • La Mortella
    • Email
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2011, 02:23:17 PM »
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.
Alessandra - Garden Director- Giardini La Mortella, Ischia, zone 9-10

*

Alisdair

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2011, 03:23:18 PM »
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,
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

pamela

  • Sr. Member
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2011, 03:38:20 PM »
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
Jávea, Costa Blanca, Spain
Min temp 5c max temp 38c  Rainfall 550 mm 

"Who passes by sees the leaves;
 Who asks, sees the roots."
     - Charcoal Seller, Madagascar

*

Alisdair

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2011, 04:21:13 PM »
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.
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

Daisy

  • Sr. Member
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2011, 05:48:28 AM »
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/
« Last Edit: May 08, 2014, 01:00:51 PM by Daisy »
Amateur gardener, who has gardened in Surrey and Cornwall, England, but now has a tiny garden facing north west, near the coast in north east Crete. It is 300 meters above sea level. On a steep learning curve!!! Member of both MGS and RHS

*

Alisdair

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2011, 07:49:33 AM »
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.
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

*

Alevin

  • Jr. Member
    • La Mortella
    • Email
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2011, 08:34:03 AM »
Start with this: http://www.leessenzedilea.com/
The richest choice of  Salvia  in Europe, I believe.
Alessandra - Garden Director- Giardini La Mortella, Ischia, zone 9-10

*

Alisdair

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2011, 09:12:09 AM »
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!
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

*

JTh

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2011, 07:13:08 PM »
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.
Retired veterinary surgeon by training with a PhD in parasitology,  but worked as a virologist since 1992.
Member of the MGS  since 2004. Gardening in Oslo and to a limited extent in Halkidiki, Greece.

*

Alevin

  • Jr. Member
    • La Mortella
    • Email
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #10 on: August 20, 2011, 07:13:41 AM »
CITRUS: Oscar Tintori is the oldest grower of citruses  in Tuscany:  www.oscartintori.it ; the directory of plants in PDF is here . 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.
Alessandra - Garden Director- Giardini La Mortella, Ischia, zone 9-10

*

Rosie

  • Newbie
    • Gardening in Portugal
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #11 on: August 30, 2011, 12:35:53 PM »
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 .......

*

JTh

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #12 on: August 30, 2011, 03:41:37 PM »
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.
Retired veterinary surgeon by training with a PhD in parasitology,  but worked as a virologist since 1992.
Member of the MGS  since 2004. Gardening in Oslo and to a limited extent in Halkidiki, Greece.

ezeiza

  • Full Member
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #13 on: August 31, 2011, 02:31:08 AM »
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.

*

John

  • Hero Member
Re: List of plant suppliers
« Reply #14 on: September 01, 2011, 05:46:58 PM »
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.
John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.