I worked in Holland for a year, and most of them spoke better English than me.
Haha! Yes there are brilliant English speakers. In Belgium, not quite. I'm an English teacher, so more work for me!
It's hard having to learn the French names of plants (I'm in a francophone bit of Brussels). When I go to a Flemish garden centre, I just speak English and am usually more or less understood!
I'm in Denmark and I find the closest source of plants for me is Germany if I want any thing at all unusual. I'm after a cymbidium at the moment, and in the entirety of Denmark I have found 3.. yes THREE plants, they would require a £50 bridge toll to get to so I'm going to order by post from Germany when the weather warms up, I found several garden centers that have English as an option on their sites, and I used google translate to figure out what to search for in the first place.
Good growers will know and understand the botanical names so French not needed really. The two brothers who run clematis.be both speak good English. Glad you liked Aywiers. There are even more Flemish nurseries at the Beervelde plant fairs and they usually speak English. Kalmthout arboretum up just beyond Antwerp also organises plant fairs with some quite unusual plants on offer. They also have a very fine selection of hamamelis, many, like Jelena were bred there and named after family. If you fancy a day out, try Intratuin on the Diestsesteenweg just to the east of Aarschot - good selection of plants and bulbs, garden equipment, sundries and pots, Xmas decs and lights in December and a very good café/brasserie. The clematis .be nursery is nearby, just after you pass under the E314 after leaving it at exit 23 to go to Intratuin.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I don’t speak French or Dutch, but manage to order from their websites as the ordering system is pretty universal and it easy enough to work out. I use Dutch tuincentrumlottum.nl for bareroot roses. They do have an English option but it doesn’t always work, so I end up using the Dutch version.
www. leclosdarmoise.com is a French site and my main supplier for perennials, but you can browse their English site, Brittany Perennials to choose plants, make a list then order on the French site in euros. 9cm pots. I have found the quality of their plants and the customer service excellent.
Lots of UK companies used to deliver to Europe but gave it up as a bad job (presumably too many complaints about DOA plants). Hayloft Plants (plug plants) and Burncoose Nurseries still do European delivery. Burncoose aren’t cheap, but will ship out more mature plants in 2L pots, although they are more likely to be 9cm pots if you order early in the season.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
One very reputable company with a good inventory is Woottens, and they still deliver to the E.U. including Belgium so I see... they also state their shipping rates, not all do that.. I really must order something from them myself..
@Obelixx@Nollie@Marlorena Very interesting, there is clearly some much "out there" that I didn't know about, now I'm spoilt for choice. I will explore these options and I'm sure I'll find what I'm looking for (not always very unusual plants btw). Looks like you've given me a good excuse to get out of Brussels too, @Obelixx !
When I go to a Flemish garden centre, I just speak English and am usually more or less understood!
You could try speaking Latin, the international language for plants.
Groan, had to do Latin at school, can't remember a word of it! Apart from Amo, Amas, Amat...then my mind goes blank. I'm still learning the language of plants, I'd grade myself lower-intermediate, still a lot to learn...
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That's true! Am just looking at Esveld's site, which has English and a nice selection.
Thanks @Marlorena
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
It's hard having to learn the French names of plants (I'm in a francophone bit of Brussels). When I go to a Flemish garden centre, I just speak English and am usually more or less understood!
www. leclosdarmoise.com is a French site and my main supplier for perennials, but you can browse their English site, Brittany Perennials to choose plants, make a list then order on the French site in euros. 9cm pots. I have found the quality of their plants and the customer service excellent.
Lots of UK companies used to deliver to Europe but gave it up as a bad job (presumably too many complaints about DOA plants). Hayloft Plants (plug plants) and Burncoose Nurseries still do European delivery. Burncoose aren’t cheap, but will ship out more mature plants in 2L pots, although they are more likely to be 9cm pots if you order early in the season.
https://www.woottensplants.com/mail-order/courier-charges/
...and they got a Daylily sale on..