About Rhodo Glen Nurseries

Rhodo Glen Nurseries was established on its current location in The Patch by Alan Raper in 1953. Alan was just 19 years old at the time and started the nursery by constructing buildings and propagating camellias in the evenings after work. At that time, camellias were predominantly grown in the ground and then potted or sold balled and burlapped!

Alan's passion was Rhododendrons and he was an active member of the Rhododendron Society https://rhododendron.com.au/ where he gained and shared knowledge of what was a very popular group of plants at the time. As a member of the Rhododendron Society he made a significant contribution to the development of the National Rhododendron Gardens (link) in Olinda, Victoria.

In the 1960's, Alan and his wife Barbara also established Warran Glen Nursery. Under their stewardship, it quickly became one of Melbourne's most prominent retail nurseries in the 70's, 80's and 90's. Alan sadly passed away unexpectedly in 1994.

Ownership was transferred to Alan & Barbara's children Andrew and Carolyn and their partners Lisa and Tony. Andrew and Tony had both been working in the business since the 1980's and quickly recognised the nursery would require a process of continuous review, improvement and upgrade to remain competitive long into the future. Developing Rhodo Glen Nurseries as a Specialist Camellia Nursery became the primary focus.

As a Specialist Camellia Grower, Rhodo Glen Nurseries currently supplies retail and trade customers in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.
We aim to provide quality plants, timely delivery and sound advice to their customers and be good citizens in our local community.

The Patch is our home not just our business location and we aim to conduct ourselves in a manner which reflects both sound business and community values.

For more than 60 years Rhodo Glen has been growing plants for Australian gardeners. We specialise and are passionate about Camellias. We hope as you browse through our website you find both inspiration and practical advice to select the best varieties for your garden or landscaping project.