We have sold out for 2023. You are welcome to window shop for 2024.
Our blog is here to help.
About Us
Welcome to Island Passions Nursery!
Our focus is on the plants that will put the WOW factor into your yard or patio.
Our plants are often described as long blooming, eye catching and definitely different!
We would like to say its all about how we grow them but often its more about genetics.
We choose to grow and sell only select proven cultivars of unusual plants.
Many of the cultivars we offer are not available anywhere else on the island.
This website also contains important growing and care tips in our blog for many of our plants. Our blog goes beyond the very basic information plant tags give you. We are certain it can save you time and money and most importantly help you get the very best show out of your plants even plants obtained from other sources.
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The most asked question we receive is, What is the plant in the picture above? This is one of the flowers of the Mexican Snowball. It is our most popular plant. They bloom continually for six to seven months and the hummingbirds can't resist it. This plant is easier than maintaining a hummingbird feeder and a lot better for the birds.
This plant is also available at Quality Foods locations in Victoria, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, and Courtenay from late April through May and into early June.
This plant is also available at Sweet Meadows Market in Cobble Hill from late April through May and early June.
Please note this is the only plant we supply to other stores.
We are BIG on flowers and fragrance.
Angel Trumpets blow away everything else for large fragrant flower shows.
This is a plant that they put in municipal parks like Beacon Hill Park as the show is amazing and the deer will never touch it as its a poisonous plant.
In case you are worried it is a poisonous plant please consider this. You probably already have several poisonous plants in your yard. Rhodos, Foxgloves, Hydrangea, Daffodils and Cedars are poisonous just to name a few.
Please note our cultivars are proven cultivars that offer a significantly better show than most of the plants offered elsewhere.
Sold out for 2023.
Our blog has a dedicated posting for the purchasing and caring for Angels Trumpets to assist you in getting the most out of your Angels Trumpets.
Or maybe you want a fast bold tropical statement!
These are King Kong Cannas.
They will get 7 to 9 feet tall in one season.
7 feet in a pot
9 feet in the ground
These can easily fill a 10 gallon pot in one season!
The picture above is a 10 gallon pot that grew from one of our two gallon sales pots
Other cannas cannot compete with this one for vigorous growth. These also draw hummingbirds from May to October.
Note *These Cannas are disease free. This variety does not seem to be susceptible to the canna virus that is already present in many other cannas available to you elsewhere.
Sold out for 2023.
Our blog has a dedicated posting for tips on growing cannas.
Some of our plants
Aeonium Zwartkop
Aeonium Zwartkop
Aeonium Zwartkop
This is a succulent that grabs attention.
It starts out with larger than softball size heads and quickly grows to twice that size with a ring of smaller heads developing under the original.
The polished almost black cherry heads with a lime green center are a joy to watch grow.
Sold out for 2023.
Giant Lilies
Aeonium Zwartkop
Aeonium Zwartkop
New for 2023 is Zelmira. It's a VERY tropical looking lily with peach / coral coloring.
Our giant lilies multiply like normal lilies but deliver bigger flowers that just grab your attention. We will have Trumphanator ( A European award winner ) and one or two new varieties will be available.
Sold out for 2023
Mexican Snowballs
Aeonium Zwartkop
Canadian made Palm Trees
This plant continually produces stems of Candy-corn looking flowers in the shape of hearts for 6 to 7 months.
We have never seen another succulent bloom interesting flowers for anywhere near that long.
It draws hummingbirds like crazy. We suggest you put it where you spend your time. It makes a great patio table plant and the hummingbirds will likely visit you.
Sold out for 2023
Our blog has tips for growing.
Canadian made Palm Trees
Our Passion Flowers bloom non-stop.
Canadian made Palm Trees
Palm trees can have VERY different traits within the species. Ours are grown from seed harvested from the fantastic Vancouver island palms pictured above.
The main difference is the fans. The fans are much more rigid than others so they withstand the elements way better and the resulting appearance of the palm is night and day different from others.
Be picky when shopping for palms. You cant make a genetically weak palm great.
Ours are 3 to 3.5 feet tall out of the pot.
Our blog has dedicated postings to assist you. One posting is to assist you in the purchasing of palm trees regardless of where you are shopping for them.
The other posting is important tips for planting and growing palm trees.
Sold out for 2023
Stunning Rose Lillies
Our Passion Flowers bloom non-stop.
Our Passion Flowers bloom non-stop.
Flowers that just WOW you. ( That is my arm in the picture )
These produce three times the petals and bloom twice as long as normal lilies. These have very little to no pollen depending which ones you pick.
Their longer bloom time and near zero pollen also make them excellent cut flowers.
Rose lilies are a dependable show that gets better every year
We will have 5 or 6 varieties next spring including the very popular Anouska.
The variety in the picture is Thalita. It is a tall variety.
Sold out for 2023.
Our Passion Flowers bloom non-stop.
Our Passion Flowers bloom non-stop.
Our Passion Flowers bloom non-stop.
These are the plants that launched our business in 2003.
Often you will find them in areas frequented by tourists as very few plants grow fast and bloom interesting flowers continuously from May to late October.
They are very versatile as we have grown them in half shade all the way up to full sun.
They will climb or you can try something REALLY different. You can put one in a hanging basket and get a completely different look from other hanging baskets.
This is also a hanging basket you won't have to rebuy or replant every year.
Sold out for 2023
Dwarf Butterfly Bushes that bloom the entire season
Dwarf Butterfly Bushes that bloom the entire season
Dwarf Butterfly Bushes that bloom the entire season
Ours are the Buzz series of dwarf butterfly bushes that produce an astonishing amount of flowers on compact three and half foot tall plants. These even work in planters.
These flower from May all the way to mid October and the fragrance is excellent.
You will see many other dwarf Butterfly bushes out there but we find some are actually too small even for a dwarf.
In our own trials Buzz Hot Raspberry provides by far the best results of all dwarf butterfly bushes and we have tried a lot of dwarf butterfly bushes.
Sold out for 2023.
Spotted Giant Calla.
Dwarf Butterfly Bushes that bloom the entire season
Dwarf Butterfly Bushes that bloom the entire season
Everything about these is significantly bigger and better than other callas.
Huge leathery leaves.
Enormous flowers and a subtle fragrance that is simply amazing!
They make absolutely stunning cut flowers if you can find a vase big enough. They last three weeks as a cut flower. You just can't bring them in if you have a cat. For whatever reason cats seem to leave callas alone in the yard but in the house they might eat them and it wont go well for the cat.
The deer never touch this Calla.
Sold out for 2023.
Hardy Orchids
Dwarf Butterfly Bushes that bloom the entire season
Hardy Orchids
Yes, you can grow hardy orchids here!
These are compact plants that clump up and produce many more as time passes.
These are incredibly hardy and even colder zones are growing these.
These make excellent cut flowers as well.
We have Bletilla Blue Dragon and Bletilla Shi Ran.
$17 each
Sold out for 2023.