Win A Tropical Britain Gift Voucher

Its competition time again and this month we have a £20 gift voucher to give away from Tropical Britain, an online nursery specialising in exotic, rare and unusual plants. The site is run by John Edmiston an experienced plantsman, who grew up in New Zealand surrounded by plants that many of us here now call exotic.

John explains, "Cordylines, Phormiums, Astelias, Pseudopanax, Metrosideros, tree ferns and Nikau palms were all a regular part of everyday life, along with the many species that we could never really hope to grow very successfully in the UK, the Karaka, Kawakawa and Ngaio. I had a great fondness for the New Zealand bush and spent as much time as I could there, learning about the plants and their traditional Maori uses."

Later he travelled to Australia, Java, Malaysia and Thailand before ending up in the UK, living near to Kew Gardens. He visited almost every day over the first winter to escape the cold and be reminded of the tropical plants from home.

Eventually setting up the Tropical Britain Nursery in Surrey John explains his vision "Here at Tropical Britain, I set out to create not only a multi-functional website that is intuitive and user-friendly but also has within it as much useful botanical, horticultural and cultivation information as possible. I am more motivated to create a vibrant community of like-minded souls than a place to just spend money. What I didn't want to do was create just another internet shop, another soul-less supermarket-style website, but rather a place for people who love plants to wander around in - a bit like a garden really - and enjoy yourself, the views, the little corners or larger vistas, the occasional snippet of information that gets you thinking, that inspires you maybe to try something new or different."

As well as the website, do check out Tropical Britain's Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter pages too. 

On signing up to Tropical Britain all new customers can select a free Trachycarpus fortunei with their first order (remember to tick the box!), and automatically receive 200 Palm Points (Which are redeemable against future orders). This is available in conjunction with the competition prize gift voucher and must be selected when placing your first order. 

To enter, please sign up as a new customer on the Tropical Britain Website, put this code into the referral box YWlnK20vTXdiMGNwbTB2bEpBYzZXVXVOYzdrQkw1M2VBaWRBb1VGS0JXRT0= (no purchase is necessary to win) and  answer the following question on the blog here:

Trachycarpus fortunei is named after which famous plant hunter?

a) Francis Masson
b) Robert Fortune
c) Ernest Wilson

The winning entrant will have their account at Tropical Britain credited with the gift voucher.

Extra entries can be made by following us and sharing this competition on Twitter or by liking our page and sharing the competition on Facebook. An additional entry can be made by "following" this blog via Google Friend Connect

Terms and conditions: This competition closes at 23.59 on 10 November 2012. Any entries received after this time will not be counted. Entrants must be UK residents aged 18 years or older to enter. By entering this competition you agree and consent to your name being published and by taking part in the competition, entrants are deemed to have read, understood and accepted all of the Terms and Conditions and agreed to be bound by them. The winner will be selected at random from the correct entries and will be announced here on the blog. Please make sure we are able to contact you if you do win as we need to pass your details on to Tropical Britain to provide the prize.

Posted in: Competition , palm