Brigitta Sandu is no longer Eldon Tropicals. She sold the mail order nursery that shipped rare, beautiful, and uncommon tropical plants around the world. The nursery, still exists under the same name, and received almost all of the stock. Brigitta will be moving back to Austria where she's already purchased a property with a greenhouse. Like a botanical Noah, she plans on taking two of each plant with her. That is, if they can survive bare-rooting and quarantine and if they're small enough to be movable. That still left a lot of plants; Karen and I went over to poach and bought the individuals in the picture below. There are some good ones: Dioscorea discolor, Milletia reticulata, Cornukaemphaeria aurantiflora, Musella lasiocarpa, Passiflora coriaceae, Anihurium superbum, Dichorisandra thyrsiflora, and a few more!
We first met Brigitta in 2019 though I'd been watching her site's availability for a few years before that. After all, she was located less than 30 miles from our Florida home. The space hasn't changed much on the inside except that there are many fewer plants in the greenhouse. Outside it's a bit more overgrown but I love the feel of the place. It's clearly the province of a plant lover. I worry that 50 years from now there won't be any, or at least many, places like this. I've loved plants my whole life and stumbling across small nurseries was a joy. I love Plant Delights and Cistus and their ilk but there was just something about these little nurseries that thrilled me. You knew there'd be a plant you'd never seen before. And you'd be able to buy it! And talk about it to the people who'd grown it. And grow it yourself. I cherish the connections that arose from these personal provenances.
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