From a hamlet on Dartmoor
to hunting rare plants for you

Growing up on Dartmoor

I grew up as an only child in a tiny hamlet on Dartmoor in Devon, and I spent my childhood surrounded by nature. I used to go for walks down to the woods with my cat and relax with a book under my favourite tree, which is still there today. To get there I'd walk down a tree lined path next to a river and into a large cattle field filled with giant cows. I'd skip across the stepping stones, being sure not to fall into the natural bog, then cross the field at the end and sit on the stone wall under my favourite tree. Complete peace. That's where my love and connection with plants and nature started.

Though if you look at my gran and aunts' houses now, you could probably say a love of houseplants just runs in the family.

Out chasing the world

I was lucky enough to spend my 20s travelling for work. I lived in Australia, travelled the North Island of New Zealand with a few trips down to the South, and then landed in my dream country, Canada. All of those places gave me the chance to really see the beauty in the world and made me want to protect it.

I was fortunate enough to do a conservation project with WWF in Queensland, and that's when I got to see people coming together to protect nature up close. I knew I needed to be part of that fight. Back then I had no idea plant poaching even existed.

Studying at the Eden Project

When I came home to the UK, I spent a year at the Eden Project studying plant science. I was completely obsessed with botany, bioremediation, and soil science.

The plant that started it all

Then came lockdown. Stuck at home like everyone else, I ordered my first Monstera albo, and I mean it when I say it changed everything for me. The second it arrived I was captivated, the shape of the leaves, the sharp white splashes cutting through the green. I couldn't stop looking at it.

Not long after, I bought a 6ft Monstera all the way from the Netherlands, propagated it with my own hands, and sold on the cuttings. I was properly hooked, and I haven't looked back since.

Why I check everyone myself

The Rare Plant Scout started after I got scammed buying a rare plant online: paid, no plant, no reply. Even on the times it worked out, there was a second worry sitting underneath it: had this thing actually been nursery-grown, or dug out of a forest somewhere and sold on?

Both of those stuck with me, and not just as bad luck. There wasn't anyone doing the obvious thing: actually going and checking, then putting their own name behind what they found.

So I became the thing that was missing

A scout. I go looking for growers who are actually doing this properly, check them out myself, and only list the ones I'd trust with my own money, not the ones who just tell me what I want to hear.

Where I can, that means getting on a plane: walking the nursery, meeting the people behind the plants, seeing the growing conditions for myself, then sharing what I find so you know exactly where your plant came from and who grew it with care. Where a visit isn't possible yet, sellers still go through a proper check before they ever show up here.

Home in the Welsh valleys

Now I live in the Welsh valleys, my dogs at my side on every hike, running a business built entirely from something I fell in love with by accident. I know exactly what it feels like to finally get your hands on the plant you've been dreaming about for months. That feeling is everything to me, and it's exactly what I want every single person who buys from RPS to feel too.

I really appreciate everyone who's been part of this journey with me so far, and I am really excited for everything that is to come. All I want is for The Rare Plant Scout to be a place where anyone can get their hands on a rare plant they've been dreaming of.

Happy plant hunting everyone 🌿

What I won't compromise on