Small nurseries in France?

[Chris]

The recent LF article on gardens in North France left me wondering where French gardeners get their interesting plants. I know there are some Garden Centres, but I'm just wondering about the French equivalent of the little local nurseries we have in England. Within ten miles of us here in Cornwall we have 5 such nurseries, some incredibly specialised (150 varieties of Crocosmia in one!), and all quirky and interesting.  Is there any equivalent in France - at least in some areas? (Which?)  If not, has anybody had experience of trying to start one, at least (initially) to serve Brits missing this aspect of home?  When we moved here from the Midlands we brought ten Luton vans full of plants (the old garden was being redeveloped, so we did a 'Horticultural Dunkirk'!) - will we have to do the same to stock our garden when we move to France?

Chris Probert

[Hoddy]

There are small specialist nurseries in France although I have the impression that there are fewer than in the UK. What you see more of, certainly in the south-west, are more of the sort of general garden centres we used to have where the proprietor actually grows the plants. Additionally, many of the gardens that are open to visitors sell plants that they've propagated.

Hoddy

[Danny]

Yes, in our bit of SW France there is no shortage of general garden centres, even in the smallest of places. Our village has quite a large one and it is the only shop here, not even a boulangerie! If you wanted to buy specific bulbs I think you would be better off doing this on line, from the UK or wherever you choose. Otherwise, the local plants on offer may be limited but are probably best adapted to the local climate. I think if you wanted to offer a particular 'Brit' service this would be better web-based, offering mailorder throughout France. What plants would remind Brits of home? Would they not be readily available here? I'm not much of a flower grower but the only thing I have been unable to source in shops here is parsnip seeds - these I get online from Thompson and Morgan. Perhaps there would be more demand in northern France? Good luck with your research - it sounds a nice way to make a living if it pays off,

Jane

[Wozza]

I think they are called Pepinieres (?) and there arequite a few near us - look out for the signs at the side of the road. Thereis a huge one locally that wont sell to the public, but most of the smaller ones do - not much cheaper than the brico garden centres, but look in much better condition and a much larger choice.

Warren

[Suze01]

Here's a list of specialist pépinieres:

http://perso.orange.fr/aromatiques.tropicales/sitehtml/pepinieres.html

[Cassis]

No shortage oop north near us.  39 pépiniéristes in the Orne and 35 in the Sarthe.  None as good as Coolings Nurseries near Knockholt where we used to go in the UK, though.  The general standard of plants and range offered by individual nurseries seems to be poorer and smaller - there are specialist nurseries around but a lot of them seem to stock the same old same old.

[aj_dr]

We have a garden centre near here, the person who runs it is English. He has also started up a 'Garden Club' and there are now over 100 members. We meet once a month and talks are given, last month there was a demonstration given on jam making by 2 local French ladies, next month there's a talk on pruning which I shall definitely go to as there are many plants you can grow here that don't survive an English winter.

aj

[Cassis]

[quote user="aj_dr"]there are many plants you can grow here that don't survive an English winter.

[/quote]

Depends where you are.  There are a lot of plants that are fine in the temperate summers and winters of the UK but won't survive a French winter or a French summer in some regions.

[sasfields]

[quote user="aj_dr"]We have a garden centre near here, the person who runs it is English. He has also started up a 'Garden Club' and there are now over 100 members. We meet once a month and talks are given, last month there was a demonstration given on jam making by 2 local French ladies, next month there's a talk on pruning which I shall definitely go to as there are many plants you can grow here that don't survive an English winter.

aj


[/quote]

Where is 'near here' AJ?

[Cassis]

There's a national chain of locally organised garden clubs which is very good (well, I would say that, as a member!).

They have regular demonstrations of gardening techniques and are very helpful for advising what grows and will not grow well in your particular conditions, plus they have a plant and seed catalogue which gives discounts to members.  There is also a monthly magazine included in membership.

Here is their website:

http://www.jardiniersdefrance.com/fr/accueil/accueil.asp

[Chris]

Thank you everybody for these interesting and helpful replies, much to think about!  We don't mind travelling distances to find something really interesting: in our last place we thought we were mad going 100 miles to a nursery in N.Wales after something special, until two men from BERLIN arrived with a hired van and a big cheque book, and proceeded to buy everything in sight!  One last question, please - is there a French equivalent of the RHS 'Plant Finder' out there?

[Chris]

Ah, found it I think:

http://www.aspeco.net/francais/cadre02.htm

[hoverfrog]

there certainly are pépinieres out there - but they don't seem to advertise much. The plants are much cheaper than the garden centres in my experience, and the growers more knowledgeable!

My favourite is on the Limoges side of St Leonard :)