Bluewater Palms

North of Townsville, where the tropical air suits them, the palms at Bluewater Palms have all been grown from seed collected on the property itself — a detail that separates this place from anywhere simply reselling stock trucked in from elsewhere. Valerie, who has spent more than four decades among palms and cycads, runs the business and offers the kind of specific, plant-by-plant advice that only comes from having propagated the thing yourself: which variety will cope with a pool edge, which suits a shaded courtyard, which rare specimen might become the feature of a North Queensland garden. The range runs from small starter pots up through 100-litre bags, covering everything from slender single-trunked palms to clustering, dwarf and fibre-covered varieties, chosen with the region's climate specifically in mind. It's a working nursery rather than a retail showroom — visits are by appointment, which means a trip here comes with the owner's own time and attention rather than a wander through anonymous aisles. For homeowners landscaping gardens or pool surrounds around Townsville, or hunting something more unusual than the usual nursery fare, this is a rare case of buying direct from the grower who raised the plant from seed.