About Paul

I am Paul Bonavia and I am passionate about plants and our environment and love to share my passion. I moved to Cornwall in 2004 when my acre of plants around a little cottage in Sussex became overcrowded. The plants I grew from seed collected on expeditions and rare plants I voraciously collected went and grew!

For years I worked in PLC earning money for travels and my plant-purchasing appetite. When my little cottage sold I made the break and moved to Cornwall...without a job! Determined to do what I loved and started Exclusive Plants in a beautiful garden open to the public.

But after five years as things change the owners decided to retire and I had the opportunity to restore the gardens of an Elizabethan manor and fill the four acre paddock of my little bungalow with plant rarities and create my own garden with wildlife and sustainability always in mind and tree planting before it became trendy (Plant more trees!).

I am now relaunching Exclusive Plants so that I can share lots of rare and unusual plants suitable for your garden. Of course 'right plant right place' is key and it gives me no joy to sell a plant that is not suitable for your garden, so ask, email me and I will come back to you. It's early days and the list of plants available will grow.

BUYING PLANTS FROM EXCLUSIVE PLANTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

All plants are either propagated by me or friends in the UK. They are all grown in my home made peat-free compost. I re-use pots where possible after cleaning in my pot cleaner. The reality is hardly any plant pots whatever colour are actually recycled in the UK, sorry. I use natural predators for pest control. Chemicals are only really necessary where bad housekeeping makes it necessary. We can all do our bit.

WILD COLLECTED OR 'NATURAL SOURCE' PLANTS AND PLANT PRESERVATION

I adore the purity and simple beauty of plants grown from seed collected in the wild. It has been important because through seed banks we have been in a position to return plants to their home where they have become extinct due to habitat loss. China is a good example. Natural source plants have to be good garden plants though and some are either not good garden plants or too challenging to grow and sadly we have to leave those to the botanic collections. A good example is Anenome hupehensis alba, there are many anenome hybrids but for me, hupehensis alba has an unmatched purity. Another is Paeonia willmottiae collected by me in Northern China many years ago...stunning and still scarce. Another passion is plant preservation. Too many plants disappear from the catalogues, often because it is not on a Dutch production list. An example is the beautiful Abutilon 'Victoria Tennant'.

All plants now available for sale have originated from the one plant I obtained, propagated and distributed. I am doing the same for Abutilon 'Tennant's White'. I have my plant heroes and I am behind many Victorian plant hunters collections becoming available again, George Forrest, Ernest Wilson, Reginald Farrer and some more recent ones, Keith Rushforth, Mikinori Ogisu who has an incredible eye for spotting the unusual in the wild. It is rare to obtain a plant carrying what we call a 'collectors number' giving details of date and location of collection, that Mikinori collected and is not quite remarkable. A plant gardener I have huge respect for is Carol Klein, not only was she a teacher of mine at school but a lovely person that enjoys sharing her passion and teaching us how to produce our own plants without any 'sniffiness'. I remember a well known plant grower telling me years ago 'She buys my plants, splits them up and then takes root cuttings!'      

Lastly with climate change it is a great opportunity to 'push the boundaries' I love watsonias from South Africa with their bright uncompromising colours, they clump up beautifully enabling you to share or broaden the planting. Once only suitable for mild areas but now grown in many parts of the UK. Kniphofas not all the old colours, Gladiolus (species for me not keen on the blousey hybrids). Watsonias love sun and moisture, say no more!

VALUE FOR MONEY

The reality is no one will get rich growing plants and to be sustainable even more expensive but I cannot do it any other way. An old friend Micheal Wickendon (sadly lost on an expedition in Burma) had opinions....I am afraid so do I.

Lots of companies with a 'lovely country name' sell what we call 'plug plants' these are little plugs intended for nurseries to be grown on to saleable plants and rarely make a good plant in private hands.

I include a 'pot size guide' on the site. It is always worth looking at the size of plant you are getting for your money. Most are sent out now in 9cm pots (nothing wrong with that) but where I can I use a 1.5L pot which gives a stronger and better plant to establish. Lastly again 'right plant right place' plants are an investment and will not grow where they are not happy as in the wild and so e mail me for advice, even photos but be patient please. If you do not use the internet call me, but then you are probably not reading this!

Happy planting...