This was an absolutely epic job. We first visited Harry's greenhouse in Preston in January 2023. It was snowing, and we were tasked with clearing thousands of plants out from the greenhouse.
We quickly realised it was going to take multiple visits as there were so many unbelievable plants that we wanted to bring home.
Harry was a prominent member of the cactus and succulent community in the UK, working with the International Succulent Introductions located at Huntington Botanical Gardens in California. Harry brought many many species of rare and unusual succulents into the UK during his long career and many of the plants had original ISI reference numbers which can be looked up online.
Some of the labels even stated things like 'CUTTING FROM KENYA' where Harry had visited and brought plants back, back when you could!
We worked with Harry's daughter and visited multiple times over the course of 2023. Harry was with us until the middle of the year, and we were incredibly sad to hear of his passing. He was an expert in his field, even writing his own magazine at one point and the amount of knowledge we have lost with him is unmeasurable.
Find Harry's collection for sale here.
Mama T and Penni in their happy place, sourcing UK grown plants that are truly unique.
The van at the end of one of our epic packing trips.
A couple example of labels. One of Harry's handwritten labels in the background with the ISI reference number, and an original Huntington Botanical Gardens label in the front.