We are always open to buying collections of plants from private growers. From our connections to the British Cactus and Succulent Society we are often getting offered collections that are up for sale, and since being on BBC Gardeners World this has increased. It doesn't have to be cacti and succulents, it can be tropical houseplants too.
Often, the owners sadly cannot look after the plants any longer and so need them to be moved on. The owners are usually very worried that the plants will go into a skip during the house clearance, so they contact us.
We are fully equipped with vehicles and a huge stock of crates and blankets to be able to collect pretty much any plant. We have collected huge 8 foot Crassula trees from Exeter, emptied commercial greenhouse spaces from Preston and been to far South Wales to buy plants from greenhouses deep in woodland backgardens.
One of our favourite rescue jobs was Jenny's tropical greenhouse in Reading. Jenny sadly didn't have long to live and was desperate to see her plants given good homes and quickly. We arrived to find a huge greenhouse stuffed to the brim of tropical plants. Most of them were in bad shape, as the greenhouse was heated to 25 degrees all year round and had not had a good watering in months.
We managed to bring them all back after a few visits. Instead of payment, Jenny requested a donation to the hospice who had been looking after her, which we thought was just lovely.
A large staghorn fern found in Jenny's tropical greenhouse.
Hayley and Mama T at Harry's greenhouse in Preston.