vancouver island nursery tour
We woke up Sunday morning bright and early, grabbed some greasy drive-through breakfast, and off we went. While it may seem like a bit of a feat to drive 3 hours to visit a nursery, Valley Succulents was well worth the effort. Truly the only nursery of it’s kind on Vancouver Island (and maybe the mainland as well) Valley Succulents is a small nursery that specializes in strange and unusual cacti and succulents.
The drive was a breeze and a real pleasure on a cloudy Sunday in June.
Having seen nearly 250km of roadside blue flowering lupins, we decided to pull over and take a closer look and gather a couple specimens.
I’m unsure of if these lupins are native, garden escape or some sort of wildflower distribution. Either way they were an incredible sight at this time of year.
The lupins could be spotted in the ditches from Victoria all the way to Courtney, over a million lupins in bloom. Makes you feel a bit silly for buying a Russell hybrid at the garden center up the hill.
A couple hours later and many kilometers behind us, we took the turn off into Courtney through to Comox and eventually arrived at Valley Succulents. An inconspicuous little nursery, upon arrival we were greeted by the owner & grower, Jamey Lauinger. Here is an individual I could relate with. After a quick introduction and a small exchange of words it was apparent that you were speaking with true hobbyist and plant madman. The nursery is small, but packed full of the strange and the unusual. In fact, I’ve never seen such an amazing variety of cacti and succulents. Jamey brings the exotic to the Arctic isle. Cacti nurseries may be common place in the warmer parts of the United states, but they are virtually non-existent in Canada. “Agaves, euphorbias and trichocereus oh my”. Even though I had just finished a successful plant hoarding mission the day before, I couldn’t help but to load up on many well sought after treasures.
Upon arrival
His variety was great in all realms of succulent, mesemb and cacti. Might I add that his sedums, agave and opuntia selection is unsurpassed by any other nursery on the island. Bonus points for keeping prices low and sometimes borderline bargain. I found specimens that you can’t find anywhere else but online & out of country. It was nice to skip the song and dance of customs and borders, Jamey brings it to you local, high quality and affordable. Whether your’re a plant geek or novice, it’s worth picking his brain. Jamey is a resource and a wealth of information. It was refreshing to speak with someone who was so obviously passionate about what they were doing.
A carpenter by trade, Jamey built his 1500ft greenhouse last year and has only recently opened the doors to the public as of May 5th, 2012.
The greenhouse is beautifully constructed and is a lovely place to find oneself on a Sunday afternoon.
Trichocereus standing tall.
Many of the tables had flood beds so the succulents could be watered from below. I dream of integrating these into my greenhouse someday…
Cute Sedum rubrotinctum terracotta pots.
Even though the space is small, he packs a lot in. Make sure to take an extra close look, there’s so much to see.
I love Pleiospilos nelii!
An exotic Euphorbia albipollinifera was a must have.
A Trichocereus lobivia in bud.
Fuzzy cacti!
I’ve recently become obsessed with terrestrial bromeliads, this Hechtia argentea charmed it’s way into my collection.
Epithelantha micromeris has such a perfect sphere shape it’s hard to believe it’s real.
Hands down the best agave selection on the island.
Lobivia atrovirens
Echeveria hybrid
Euphorbia horrida ‘Snowflake’
Valley Succulents doubles as a botanical garden in it’s diversity.
I love being able to share the fascinating world of plants with my girlfriend, it’s nice to know someone close to me can appreciate the same madness. “Which one of you are coming home with us!?”.
Astrophytum myriostigma
The latest plant haul, how could I resist. I know, I know, where all this going to go?
In conclusion, Valley Succulents is an incredible new nursery that is well worth the long trip up island. A perfect day-trip for the botanically inclined, give yourself an excuse to go for a Sunday drive and support this madman so he continues to grow more outrageous and exotic cacti and succulents. I for one was pleased with my adventure and hope to travel up there again in the near future. Affordable, local and exotic.
Visit his website @ www.ValleySucculents.com
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As everyone who reads this blog knows, I’m an insatiable plant collector. For the good or the bad, I can’t seem to stop, I love finding new strange plants for the garden and/or home. Living in the garden city of Victoria B.C there is actually quite a variety of nurserys and garden centers available to the everyday plant geek. From wholesale to specialists, Vancouver Island has them all. In time I hope to document them more thoroughly, but for today lets start with one of my favorite. Let’s talk about Brentwood Bay Nurseries, the island’s best source for succulents and cacti, strange and exotic plants from all over the world.
My girlfriend posing with an aeonium, mid spring at Brentwood Bay Nursery.
While I visit just about every decent garden center south of Parksville, many of my most favorite oddities have come from Brentwood Bay Nursery. Puya Miribilis, Dahlia imperalis, Faucaria tigrina, Euphorbia obesa and Passionvines just to name a few. I don’t think there is anywhere else on the island that matches the sheer depth of interesting plant stock this place has. What’s better is that the stock seems to shift regularly as I tend to find new things every-time I visit. My most favorite place to start at Brentwood Bay Nurseries is their hot house, which no matter what time of year you visit is filled with all kinds of tropical treasures.
On my most recent visit I was shocked to see so many thriving tropicals in a town which is fickle about gardening in the rain. Blooming salvias, date palms and bird of paradise, there are a 100 shades of echeveria and a blooming acacia pravissima. The cheapest trip to the tropics I’ve ever seen. If I ever want to impress a friend who isn’t into plants I set them free in the succulent room at Brentwood Bay. Who couldn’t be blown away by a 30 year old Agave americana that rivals the size of it’s relatives in the South. While you’ll surely find all the common garden plants here as well, if your into tropicals hardy and otherwise this is your nirvana. Brentwood Bay grows the majority of their own plants, and things look healthy and vigorous. Prices are average like anywhere else, and sales happen now and again if you keep your eyes open.
They feature a wide variety of cusp hardy shrubs and perennials from Australia and New Zealand. Contrary to popular believe a lot of exotic plants that grow there can survive in our mild south island climate. As eloquently written on their website. “Our main objective is to help and educate anyone who is interested in plants, especially those plants that will grow in the Pacific Northwest in our wonderful and exciting climate that ranges from zones 7 to 9 “.
Talking with Robin (the owner of the business) you can tell his motivation lies more in his love and appreciation for the plants then the economic viability of growing tropicals in the North. That being said, we all have to pay bills, so I encourage anyone who has a taste for the exotic to seek this nursery out and buy yourself something amazing. If you’re looking for something strange that you can’t find anywhere else be sure to ask them, as they might just have it. I was amazed one day when I was brought to one of the back greenhouses and shown a specimen (which I will not specify at the moment) which is almost impossibel to find anywhere else in the lower mainland. Good luck getting that kind of service at Walmart. It’s worth spending money at great independent nurseries like this to keep the dream alive. We live in a temperate rainforest and we might as well encourage growers that try to utilize our great climate. If gardening ended with petunias, I probably wouldn’t be a plant geek.
Apparently this Salvia Leucantha (Mexican Bush Sage) doesn’t know it’s almost December.
Roses, shrubs, trees, palms, succulents, cacti, tropicals, exotics, ferns and shade lovers,
common perennials Achillea to Zantedeschia. Visit Brentwood Bay Nursery for something new, today.
Directions and Contact Information
Brentwood Bay Nursery
1395 Benvenuto Ave Brentwood Bay, BC
*Remember Keating turns into Benvenuto, on your way to Buchart Gardens*
*Take Keating off the Pat Bay, or turn onto Benvenuto off West Saanich*
(250) 652-1507 call them if you get lost, their helpful staff will be happy to help.
Like Brentwood Bay Nursery on Facebook
Below is a quick photo reel from my backstage visit to Brentwood’s succulent production area. What a feast for the eyes, nature is a beautiful thing.
