Our philosophy
Born in 2015, Rayon de Serre lovingly looks after its tropical plants on the banks of the Cher river, right in middle of the Loire Valley Castles, close to Tours.
Rayon de Serre is based on a simple and honest idea, provide the market with a diverse collection of tropical plants sold young and therefore affordable. This, respecting their natural growth cycle.
With that in mind, more than 150 varieties of exotic and tropical plants are now available all year long. All the shapes (tree, shrub, climber …), all the flower colours and hardiness are represented ; classics such as baobabs or Bird of paradise, as well as rarities like the Tiare flower tree or the Rainbow eucalyptus.
Our plants, even if tropical, are born and grown in France and used to the European climate. As they don’t need to travel from overseas to reach your garden or the warmth of your living room; no jetlag or homesickness for them!
As we believe in simple things, all our plants are grown from the seed in our greenhouse and we don’t use any chemical fertilizer or additive. Thanks to this, they’ll adapt with ease to their new home. In the same spirit, all our fruit trees are non-grafted.
Rayon de Serre is always looking for novelties to surprise you, visit us regularly!
Rayon de Serre is a farming business:
Rayon de Serre is not a plants distributor, but a tropical plants producer registered at the Indre et Loire Chamber of Agriculture since 2015.
Our commitments
Select the best seeds of tropical plants
As all our plants are grown from the seed, we’re committed to find the best ones, wherever they are! Our suppliers are recognized professionals from all over the world (Australia, Thailand, La Réunion, Hawaii, Germany ….) And finding the right seed is not easy! Some exotic plants produce very few seeds, some seeds have a very short germination period, some seeds are available only for a short time each year... Then they need particular conditions of temperature and hygrometry to be able to germinate in our greenhouse. But that often allows us to bond with our seed finders around the world!
Respect the tropical plants’ growth cycle
At Rayon de Serre, no grafted plants! We seek to respect the varietal purity, and thus strive to offer the original botanical varieties. We respect their growth cycle by avoiding any use of chemicals or horticultural lamps. If they take time to grow, we are patient! They will thus adapt to their change of environment without culture shock.
No chemicals !
An organic loam : At Rayon de Serre, no chemical amendments ! Our potting soil is enhanced with a 100 % organic soil improver ; it’s a biological material helping the growth and fortification of our plants. The sheep barn subtle smell when you open a Rayon de Serre package? That’s it!
No fertilizer added: regular resurfacing and repotting are sufficient to meet the needs of our exotic plants, without the use of fertilizers. Indeed, fertilizers can first of all burn the fragile roots of young plants, but they also have an addictive effect: the plant does not learn to look for what it needs by itself and withers as soon as there is no more fertilizer.
Biological control: despite all our efforts, like any gardener, we’re facing on regular basis insect and mite pest invasions. To eradicate them, rather than chemicals, we prefer using the natural predators (lady bugs, arthropods, nematodes, …) of these unpleasant little creatures. Aren’t the enemies of our enemies our friends?
We also use liquid manures to repulse pests and/or strengthen our plants against them. The goal here is to lure away or eradicate pests from the green house, not life. The frogs, crickets and spiders visiting us are a proof that it works.
Waste generation minimized
Our packaging is 100% made of recycled materials and, of course, 100% recyclable. Furthermore, as they were designed for us, no overpacking or overwrapping is need to ship our tropical plants.
Like our boxes, our plant containers are 100% made of recycled materials and 100% recyclable.
A limited consumption of water, electricity and gas
Of course, the production of tropical plants in the Loire Valley is energy-consuming, but thanks to the fact that our greenhouse benefits from the latest generation equipment, our gas, electricity and water consumptions are equivalent to the ones of a family of five.
Thus, our greenhouse was built with a double wall of thick polycarbonate, a material that limits heat loss. Thus, even without sun, a low luminosity is enough to heat !
We recently had a rainwater collector installed, which not only limits the use of city water, but also promotes the health of our plants by removing the limestone that prevents their photosynthesis because it blocks the pores of the leaves.
A virtuous circle