Amulree is gone

I was really looking forward to pay my annual visit to Simon tomorrow I just went on the website to get the post code just to find out he`s gone , close for financial reason

http://www.turn-it-tropical.co.uk/

so where can I go tmw??? :(

 

Sad to hear that Sal, I know according to HTUK, he has been struggling with orders and may be it just became non viable. I can't suggest anywhere in your area, Keith might have an idea.

 

I think exotics have been out of fashion since winter 2009/10.
Surprised they lasted that long.

 

I don`t know how many of you have seen the place , my last visit was last year and he was already complain about the cost of having a heated greenhouse , the bad sale due of the cold winter/spring and all the plants he lost .... the was looking run down and not loked after , but on the other side he manage to get a gold medal at chelsie and that was costing a lot .

Pete I do agree with you every years I see less and less tropical for sale , I thing peoples have learned that will spend money and the plant will die ....... I`ve noticed in my local nursery that years ago there where tons of palm , bananas and many tropical after last years bad spring this year i barily have seen any cannas or bananas for sale and on trhe sad side even seen artificial grass for sale

 

Before the winter of 2009/10, we had had a series of mild winters, possibly for ten or more years plus.
Even I was beginning to think it wouldn't end, pessimist as I am.

Places like B&Q were selling some interesting stuff.

I think normality has resumed to some extent and you need to be a bit careful when regarding what is actually hardy, and what is hardy in a mild winter.

Buying something for a fairly high price that is unlikely to survive for more than a couple of years and look rubbish in the process has gone out of fashion.

 

Sad to see another indie go.

I think that gardening is subject to fashion as much as the rest of life, especially in this media age. Since moving I'm veering towards unusual/less common hardy plants because of my different facilities.

 

Pete , that was why i liked amulree , you could really see what plant would have survived the winter has he was running his business from his house 7 days a week , the place looked run down , but it looked more like a single man dream ......on the other hand like i sad , urban jungle is just 5 miles away and that look like the place you want to visit , the free garden , the koy pond and all the arrengment , even if you are in tropical you will feel in love with it ....

 

Can't say I am suprised.
And can't say I am sorry.....

Bought some stuff off them 2 years ago.
Had about a 40% survival rate.
Was not impressed.

 

Sad to see a business go, but the trachycarpus I brought from him is a gonna
The cautleya's I brought were wrongly labeled but the musa sikkimensis red tiger is fine

 

Sirius that`s why I liked the place , i placed an order in January and never received anything untill September , when i went there with my list all the plants I wanted where all dead , that made me belive that I would have picked some plants too soft , I could really see how a plant would really handle , lets be honest how many of us have bought a nice and pretty plants from a garden center display and that plant, 3 weeks later looked scraffy and ready to die ?

A visit there would made you understand what plant was really made to survive , also to point to the fact that many tropical plant once upon time where really rare to find and now they are available in every garden center

 

Probaly shouldn't say too much as I never bought any plants from there or ever visited the place.
But I've seen pics of plants that people did buy there, and pics of the place in general.

The thing that puts me off such places is the fact the stock is all foreign grown, imported and sold directly to unsuspecting customers.
They plant out what is a very soft grow plant that looks amazing, and is probably by nature something very borderline, regarding hardiness anyway.

Customers stop coming back eventually.

 

Sal,

I don't think I need to travel to a nursery to see what plants are capable of surviving neglect, in the hope that they will survive in my garden too.

I've just heard too many bad stories about that place.......

 

Sorry, too late for "tomorrow" now but Urban Jungle is well worth a visit. Much as I appreciated the unusual plants that Simon found and imported he was more a plantsman than a nurseryman or a businessman and his nursery was always full of weeds and looking a mess ...

If you've not been before you'll find that Urban Jungle is better maintained, and has a nice show garden. They don't have a fire-sale 50% off each autumn (but you might get 25% off in Winter), and their prices are not the cheapest, but all the plants I've had from them have been good

www.urbanjungle.uk.com

 

P.S. presume you've been to see Will Giles garden whilst up Norwich-way ?

www.exoticgarden.com