Best Online Plant Shops UK
Welcome to our guide to the best online plant shops in the UK. We cover a lot of different types of plants shops, some online-only, some that are specialists, some that sell very rare plants and some that sell the more popular-but-never-the-less-awesome plants(!). We’re basically covering online stores that sell houseplants for people that like houseplants.
Smaller / specialist / boutique rare plant shops
Here’s a quick run down of some of the better smaller or more boutique stores we’ve found, some of them are run by just one or two specialist collectors. They are worth checking often as their stock changes frequently and they get in plants that bigger commercial stores don’t.
Eastern Tropicals
Eastern Tropicals are well worth checking out, they have a well priced and well curated, wide selection of plants including strap-leafed anthuriums, philodendrons, and some variegated monsteras in amongst a lot of others.
Eastern Tropicals started many years ago back when rare plants were just impossible to source easily in the UK.
The story began when I desperately wanted a standard green Monstera deliciosa for myself but could not find one anywhere in the UK (seems impossible to imagine these days when every supermarket and garden centre stock them)! After months of searching I managed to source one but then saw pictures of an amazing variegated Monstera in Europe, I just had to have one. Months later I had ordered three plants with the plan to sell two in order to help towards the cost of my personal plant. This was the beginnings of Eastern Tropicals.
Back then, only serious collectors imported plants, they were not readily available to the general public as they are today. I could list plants on the Eastern Tropicals website and they would sell in less than a minute.
As the years have gone on, more and more plant shops have come and gone plants that were once ‘rare’ are now available from Dutch plant nurseries for just a few pounds. But I feel now that the hobby is stabilising again we can get back to just loving plants for the beauty they bring to our homes and lives.
Sarah from Eastern Tropicals
Rocknrolljungle.co.uk
https://rocknrolljungle.co.uk/
They are based in London but online only, they have a great selection of of anthuriums, plus some rare philodendrons.
Grow Tropicals
A huge selection of aroids including all kinds of philodendrons and many alocasias. They sell lots of different potting mixes and substrates. Definitely worth checking out.
Spiralis
Specialist store with lots of terrarium plants, as well as a big selection of in-demand aroids like philodendron melanochrysums and the like. Recommended!
Mint Plants
A really well curated store, one of my favourites. In particular they have a brilliant cacti and succulent selection, and an impressive ‘collector specimens‘ page for rarities and one-of-a-kinds, they have a discount section too.
What we offer is all your standard houseplant essentials plus weird, wonderful unusual stuff. Plants you won’t find in B&Q or Ikea, hand picked for their beauty, quirkiness and individuality. We also source lots of rare cacti & succulents from private UK growers which means we often have plants in that you literally cannot find anywhere else.
I started the store in 2018 after leaving behind a stressful career in IT, because I wanted to do something more creative. Plants are my total obsession, and I will talk your ears off if you let me!
Plants I would recommend for a beginner would be a succulent like a Crassula. Super beautiful, tons of different varieties, doesn’t need full sun, and water once a month! For an enthusiast I’d recommend a Hoya. Equally beautiful, with lots of different foliage options and produces really stunning flower clumps with the right conditions (bright light, basically!).
Hayley from Mint Plants
Cambridge Bee
A small but varied selection including orchids, snake plants and air plants. Keep an eye on their ‘rate plant’ section.
Grow Urban
The people behind these Edinburgh based physical stores know how to curate a plant shop, their website is well worth checking out too. At the time of writing they have some really interesting plants from variegated peace lilies to completed closed terrariums.
We are growurban. your friendly neighbourhood plant and coffee shop with the aim to bring all things botanical to the lives of city dwellers. We first opened back in 2019 and now have two locations in the centre of Edinburgh at 92 Grove Street and 8b St Vincent Street. We offer quite a few easy care options, however one of our favourites is the ‘Zamioculcas zamiifolia’ commonly known as a ‘ZZ Plant’. This is a great leafy option for any houseplant beginner as they take minimal watering and tolerate all levels of in-direct light. They thrive on neglect and are happy to be positioned almost anywhere in the home – what’s not to love?
Evie from grow urban
Plant Junkie
They have a lot of vining and trailing plants from variegated pothos to strings of hearts. Although not really rare, the bulk of what they have looks great and is well priced.
Bigger online stores for rare houseplants
These are the bigger stores which tend to have larger and more consistent selections of rare or variegated plants.
Turn It Tropical
https://www.turn-it-tropical.co.uk/
Norfolk based store, shipping across country, with a small but good selection of alocasias and ferns among others.
The Ginger Jungle
https://www.thegingerjungle.com/
A great store. They have specific sections or easy care plants and pet friendly plants too. They also sell smaller plants or cheaper in their ‘baby houseplants’ section which a the time of writing this has some nice variegated Philodendrons and jewel orchids for well under £20. They also stock some gloriosums and variegated monsteras.
The Rare Plant Shop
https://www.therareplantshop.co.uk/
They have the best selection I’ve seen to be honest, with so many rare and variegated plants. Some super rare plants like a variegated gloriosums (sit down before you take a look these!) The Rare Plant Shop are definitely not cheap but they have the most ‘wow’ selection I’ve seen.
Big general houseplant stores with some rarer plants
In this section we run down some larger more general online stores that also sell some great houseplants.
Plantsforallseasons.co.uk
https://www.plantsforallseasons.co.uk/
Based in Sheffield, Plants For All Seasons are a large store with a huge selection. Plants come really well packaged too. They have plenty of variegated plants in their collection.
Happyhouseplants.co.uk
https://www.happyhouseplants.co.uk/
A well curated selection, with beautiful plants alongside some cheap/easy care plants, as well as recommended pots for each plant, it’s a great site.
House Of Kojo
Big selection of more popular houseplants, with sections like ‘Easy Care Plants’, ‘Pet Friendly Plants’, ‘Rare & Unusual Plants’. It makes buying houseplants very easy.
Leafyhouse.co.uk
Well priced, with loads of pothos and scindapsus, plus they send the plants in eco friendly packaging.
Plant Specific / specialists
Crafty Plants
https://www.craftyplants.co.uk/
Crafty plants are specialists in air plants, they have a brilliant and varied selection of tillandsia, some of which you can buy already mounted. Give them a look, even if you’ve not considered air plants before, their selection is absolutely stunning.
Around 10 years ago we decided to give up growing the mundane shrubs and herbaceous plants that we’d been growing previously, focusing instead on growing just interesting plants. Air plants (Tillansdia) have been the backbone of our nursery since then together with an ever growing range of other bromeliads as well as cacti, succulents and a handful of more ‘random’ but still interesting plants.
For beginners, the go to air plants have got to be Tillandsia aeranthos and Tillandsia bergeri. They’re two of the most robust species that will tolerate quite a wide range of growing environments including relative extremes of temperatures and the slightly less than ideal lighting that indoor growing sometimes offers. In recent years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of people wanting to put their air plants outdoors too and while some species struggle in the UK climate T. aeranthos and T. bergeri are among the best for our climate, they can even handle the winters in milder parts of the county.
No houseplant collection could be complete without succulents. For anyone thinking of growing succulents as houseplants for the first time, there’s certainly plenty of variety. For bright positions Echeveria have a lot to offer. ‘Mexican hens and chicks’ as they’re sometimes called are a varied genus coming in a wide palette of foliage colours. Orion is a lovely compact cultivar with a spectrum of subtle colours to the leaves. For larger plants, some of the frilly leaved Echeveria like ‘Curly Locks’, ‘Neon Breaker’ and ‘Pappy’s Rose’ are certainly interesting. For less intensely lit spots, Haworthia and Aloe are two genera well worth considering. With a great number of species and cultivars, before you even get going with the intergeneric hybrids there’s a plant to suit all tastes.
Alex, Assistant Nursery Manager at Crafty Plants
See also: 5 Awesome Airplants.
Cacti and succulents
Prick is you’re go to stop for cacti and succulents, based in trendy East London. They have a small but beautiful collection, plus some incredible clay pots too that are made especially for the store.
See also: Snake Plant Care (Dracaena Trifasciata), Blue Torch Cactus
Conclusion
Hope you found this guide useful, please also check out our Rare Plant Shops guide. If you know of any stores you think we should include, please get in contact.
