Last week I attended the official launch of PlantSnapp, an iPhone and iPad based plant identification app. The premise of it is that you send a team of people working behind the scenes a photo of a plant you want identified using the app and within twenty four hours receive an answer, complete with care information and a list of suppliers.
George Williams, CEO and Founder of PlantSnapp warmly welcoming us all
The event was relaxed, well organised, with lovely food and drinks, and I got the chance to know more about the app as I chatted to the team behind it. And they chose a perfect venue too for the launch, Clifton Nurseries which is a long running and well established garden center right in the heart of London which somehow evaded my consciousness and have only heard of via the invitation to the event.
A couple of minutes walk from Warwick Avenue underground station and you'll arrive at this green urban oasis
And it was a delightful gem of a place which I was glad to explore before most of the other guests have arrived.
Private gardens in Central London tend to be small so statement plants like these two Olive trees, Olea europaea tend to appeal to the locals
Tall tree ferns, Dicksonia antarctica for the discerning London gardener...
With the milder climate in the heart of the city, plants like this coning Cycas revoluta can be planted out
Tetrapanax papyrifera 'Rex' does get everywhere...
A Magnolia with beautiful large leaves - Magnolia 'Felix Jury'
Gorgeous new growth on this Eriobotrya deflexa
Ahh but there's always an Agave somewhere...
Beautiful wall planters were also on sale there (with handsome price tags too)
These two were my favourites, I wonder why...
Bacchus would approve
Tender tropicals in the conservatory
Coning Zamia furfuracea
Cycas rumphii
They had some nice succulents too
And they sell some fabulous and quirky pots too, like these ones
A shed full of contemporary and modern garden furniture
I wish the team behind PlantSnapp app the best of luck and success, and that hopefully it will eventually expand to cover other smartphones too as well as extend the service to their website.
The three gents behind the app, L-R Patrice Archer, Angus Rankine, and George Williams
And I'm glad to have discovered Clifton Nurseries, a delightful garden center not too far from where I work and will undoubtedly lure me from time to time when the call of plant retail therapy beckons after work (or if I just fancy a nice place for an afternoon tea).
The nursery cat which looks like our Knickers
Mark :-)
