What else would a plantaholic's dream be but to be surrounded by so many beautiful plants, hundreds, if not thousands of wonderful plants. And that's how it felt when we paid Plantaholics a visit last time we were in Cornwall.Cornwall Plantaholics is a family run nursery business that supplies several other plant outlets as well as their own little shop a few minutes away from their propagation greenhouses. Their operation is mainly plant propagation from cuttings as well as growing from seeds. I was intrigued by this nursery when I first spotted them selling some Agave bracteosas on Ebay a few years ago. At that time this plant was a rarity (and to a degree it still is) and to see someone selling several of these at that time made me think that there is something more special about this seller. And I was absolutely right when we were given a tour of their propagation area.
We were warmly welcomed by the lovely owner Jane and several of her family members who showed us around the nursery. What struck me at first was the sheer scale of the place, I was initially expecting that it will be a much smaller operation but was pleasantly surprised to see it much, much bigger than I thought and the diversity of the plants that they propagate. And equally as impressive is the general tidiness and how organised the nursery is, considering that manpower is kept to a minimum with most of the work done by Jane and a few of her family members only.
The lovely Jane showing us around
Restios galore!
Aeoniums...
and other succulents, just a few of what they have!
Jane is a true plantaholic, knowledgeable, passionate, and truly enthusiastic about plants. We had a great time touring the place, getting an insight into the operation of a nursery supplying other retailers, and talking lots and lots about rare and unusual plants. And speaking of rare, unusual, and exotic plants, there is no shortage of these in her nursery.
Aeonium tabuliforme
The nursery is like an Aladdin's cave, thousands of lovely plants and lots of rarieties that I wasn't expecting to find there. And I thought the Agave bracteosa was as unusual as it will get, much to our delight it wasn't and she has loads more plant treasures waiting to be spotted all over nursery. Fortunately, as their main operation is propagation, most of these treasures are in multiple numbers of varying degrees, which is great if you just have to have more than one! There are a few exceptions of course, like the ones below and are not (yet) for sale.
Agave ferox (variegated)
Camellia sinensis (variegated)
Nolinas, Yuccas, Dasylirions, Agaves, Cordylines, Restios, etc. are just a few of the exotic group of plants that they propagate and sell. The variety of plants they have are so diverse that I find it difficult to remember in detail the other plants they sell without the aid of the photos we've taken.
Definitely a place I'm looking forward to visiting again when we're down in Cornwall, especially as a plantaholic ourselves, we're always after plants that are extra special, and they certainly have some of them :-)
Mark
Cornwall Plantaholics
