Subtropical plant nurseries

Many of the fruit trees planted at Orchard of Flavours are not available in Portuguese plant nurseries. Therefore, we work with private collectors as well as specialized plant nurseries from various countries. Funny to see that very good nurseries for subtropical fruit trees can be found in Northern Europe. Quality and price are most often excellent and great care is given to the shipping, so you should not worry about buying plants online.

If you would like to share one of your very good addresses, please send a mail to miguel@orchardofflavours.com.

Rayon de Serre (France)
Rayon de Serre is a unique specialized French plant nursery in rare plants. They sell all over Europe. Their website offers a great user experience and is very informative. Don’t subscribe to their newsletter though… you will become addicted and will be waiting for the next one!
We love their concept. Only rare plants with a big selection of fruit trees and other edible plants. They also provide plenty of information about the plant cultivation requirements and uses. Here at the Orchard of Flavours, we have adopted many of their trees, like the Phyllanthus emblica (Indian gooseberry), Ceiba pentandra (Kapok tree), Cordia sebestena (Geiger tree), Ziziphus jujuba (Jujube), Ziziphus mauritiana (Indian jujube), to name a few.

The trees you will receive are small in size (10 to 30 centimeters) and the price is great value for money. Rayon de Serre ships to Portugal and you will receive your plants extremely well packed within 2 to 4 days. At the botanical garden we always try to buy very young trees so that they can acclimatize better to our climate and soil.

Orchard of Flavours botanical garden is now collaborating with Rayon de Serre by providing seeds or cuttings of a selection of fruit trees grown here.

Andrewsgarden (Belgium) 
This is a little gem among the European plant nurseries. That is where we bought a rare Carica pubescens and many other very rare plants. Owned by a Flemish guy in Belgium. Very reasonable prices (plants are very young and small but always in good shape). Stock is always very limited, therefore don’t hesitate to buy whenever you see something that interests you is in stock.

Pépinières Quissac (France) - website in French
Incredible variety (among others, a significant collection of different pomegranates), very high quality and reasonable prices.

A l’ombre des figuiers (France)  
Well established French plant nursery. Excellent quality, great choice, a bit more pricey but worth it.

Pépinière Palmaris (France)
Fantastic choice and good prices from a French private collector. 

Canarius (Canary Islands — Spain)  
The  broadest choice of subtropical plants in Europe. A bit expensive and shipping can take a bit long (up to a week!) so only buy when the weather is not too hot or too cold.

Viveros Brokaw (Spain)
Probably the biggest European producer of many subtropical fruit trees (mostly avocados and mangos). Based in Malaga.

Viveros Argania / Argania Nursery (Spain)
We believe this to be the only plant nursery in Europe selling the drought resistant Argania spinosa tree. They offer fair prices and an excellent customer service, including lots of useful practical advice on how to grow this rare nut tree.

Palmeras Elche (Spain) - website in Spanish
Going on 28 years of experience, this very professional nursery is a specialist in the production and sale of in vitro female medjol date palm trees (Phoenix Dactylifera). Adopt a few of these beautiful lady palms, give them your love and tender care, and you’ll be sure to get nice yields of high quality dates, so much superior to the tiny sad fruits growing on ornamental palms we’re used to see so much in Southern Spain and Portugal.

Portuguese plant nurseries with a good choice, here in the Algarve:

• Geojardim (Luz de Tavira)

• Mil plantas (Estoi) - website in Portuguese

• Natura Garden Center (Almancil)

Afroplants (Moncarapacho)
Afroplants has a good and diverse offer of plants and seeds from Arabia, Africa and the Indian Ocean.
We acquired most of our succulents from them.

Lima's fruits (Faro) - website in Portuguese
The owner, José Frederico, is a real fruit tree lover. He is Portuguese and can speak English and a bit of French. He is probably the most knowledgeable person about fruit trees of warm climates that can be grown in the Algarve. 20 years ago, he started planting a beautiful orchard near Faro with fruit trees from all over the world. We are very thankful for his invaluable help, and we are very fortunate to be able to collaborate with him. Now, he is sometimes able to offer rare fruit trees that you cannot find anywhere else. Among the rare fruit trees or edible plants that he can provide are: Casimiroa edulis (white sapote), Diospyros nigra (black sapote), Inga edulis (ice-cream bean), Pereskia aculeata (Barbados gooseberry), Dimocarpus longan (longan), Pouteria lucuma (lúcuma), and some Annonaceae. You can call him after 7pm to inquire about the fruit trees that he has available, and arrange an appointment with him to see the plants.