About Us

What is Living Desert Plants?

Living Desert Plants is a home-based specialist plant nursery focusing on rare succulents and cacti. We place our focus on succulents that are not generally available in retail nurseries. Our range of plants is ethically produced and propagated before being made available. At Living Desert Plants, you will find the weird and wonderful that you cannot find easily elsewhere.

Living Desert Plants found its roots as a hobby-turned-business created by Harry Lewis in early 2018. Harry was able to get the nursery up and running using valuable knowledge gained from his years as a nature conservationist. His respect and admiration for nature is at the core of our ethos. Therefore, we are deeply committed to ethical propagation and the conservation of South Africa’s unique flora. We stand by and encourage the concept of ‘conservation through propagation’.

We ensure that all our succulents are responsibly and artificially propagated, avoiding any harm to wild populations. By focusing on artificial nursery propagation, we not only protect biodiversity, but also provide our customers with healthy, well-acclimated plants. Many of the indigenous species we offer for sale are grown by ourselves from seed or propagations.

Where are we based?

Visitors are welcome to make an appointment any day of the week to visit the nursery in Onder Papegaaiberg, Stellenbosch. Harry is not always available, so be sure to contact him well before your planned visit to avoid disappointment. We do not advertise our exact address as the nursery is based at our home.

If you are not in Cape Town or surrounds, we can courier anywhere in South Africa with The Courier Guy or PUDO.

All our plants are legal, nursery grown specimens. We will never offer plants removed from nature. We have been certified by Cape Nature as a registered Grower and Seller of Protected Flora since 21/05/2018 and have a good working relationship with conservation authorities in South Africa. We have valid, up-to-date permits to grow, sell and export indigenous flora and can provide these on request.

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The Team

Harry Lewis

Founder and owner

A rare plant collector with a background in nature conservation, Harry has a passion for everything nature. He founded Living Desert Plants in 2018, and has been assisting avid succulent enthusiasts in finding special plants ever since.

  • Those sensitive plants you've been admiring for a while but not sure how it will survive the courier journey...? Get in touch with Living Desert Plants. Excellent communication, updates and... read more

    Annitta de Villiers Avatar Annitta d.
    May 17, 2025

    Harry's plants are top shelf! Plants are perfectly acclimated to local conditions and are always in good health leaf to root

    Andre Visser Avatar Andre V.
    May 15, 2025

    Living Desert Plants delivered! 😍 My beautiful plants arrived safely thanks to the thoughtful and amazing packaging. The free decorative stones and care guide was such a nice touch and... read more

    Anina Avatar Anina
    May 9, 2025
  • Consultation with Harry Lewis: It was a most significant visit from Harry. I learnt some very useful tips in keeping my cacti healthy, we had in-depth discussions on cacti keeping,... read more

    Esther van der Westhuizen Avatar Esther v.
    April 30, 2025

    Plants are well packed and received in good condition. I will recommend them to anyone who wants to order on line.

    marlene hall Avatar marlene h.
    April 25, 2025

    Excellent communication with clients. Plants arrived in great condition all the way across the country. Exact plants as advertised.

    Jade Phillips Avatar Jade P.
    April 25, 2025
  • Great service from Harry, he kept me up to date on my order. So excited when I received my package, which was carefully wrapped. Can’t wait to see my plants... read more

    Lara Daniels Avatar Lara D.
    March 4, 2025

    I would just like to say the plants I receive are always in a good condition and I get fantastic service. I will definitely order from them again 🌟🍀

    Kyle Maritz Avatar Kyle M.
    February 11, 2025

    I am beyond impressed with my recent order! The delivery was incredibly quick, and the items were packed with such care. The plants arrived in perfect condition and are absolutely... read more

    Bianca Reÿneke Avatar Bianca R.
    February 11, 2025
  • The plants looked exactly like the photos and had no damage from being couriered because it was well secured in the box with eco friendly packaging and care guide to... read more

    Rene Marais Avatar Rene M.
    February 11, 2025

    Absolutely excellent plants and service from the LDP team....will continue buying and recommend to everyone!

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    janine pelser Avatar janine p.
    February 11, 2025

    GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE. I RECEIVED MY PLANTS AND IT'S UNBELIEVABLE !!!! I AM SO EXCITED.THANX HARRY YOU REALLY LIVE UP TO YOUR STANDARDS.

    Debtor Debtors Avatar Debtor D.
    February 11, 2025
  • Absolutely great service, over and above to get my plants to me on time. Plants healthy and well packed. Great communication- keep up your great work.

    Zelda Bowen Avatar Zelda B.
    January 11, 2025

    I purchased a number of succulents and cacti recently from all over Cape Town. Many of these plants aren't always cared for well by the nurseries. With view of fixing... read more

    Diederik Pretorius Avatar Diederik P.
    September 11, 2024

    Great plants! 🪴

    Zack Nell Avatar Zack N.
    August 11, 2024
  • They stock specimens that are hard to find and ship them with extreme care. I will buy from them again and recommend them to family and friends!

    Stafleu Buitendag Avatar Stafleu B.
    April 30, 2024

    Great customer service and excellent plants of the highest quality that are packed and shipped with the utmost care and attention to ensure safe arrival. Definitely recommend !!

    Brenton Jennings Avatar Brenton J.
    April 30, 2024

    Great website, friendly service and fantastic plants. They take great care packaging your plants when shipping them. Very impressed and will order again soon. If you ever wanted to order... read more

    DeWaal Venter Avatar DeWaal V.
    March 11, 2024
  • They stock specimens that are hard to find and ship them with extreme care. I will buy from them again and recommend them to family and friends!

    Stafleu Buitendag Avatar Stafleu B.
    March 11, 2024

    Great customer service👌🏾. Overall I'm happy with my purchase, definitely purchasing again.

    Buyii Radebe Avatar Buyii R.
    March 11, 2024

    Excellent service, friendly with a personal touch! Definitely recommend

    Carl De Beer Avatar Carl D.
    March 11, 2024
  • Good care and friendliness😸

    Bernard van Heerden Avatar Bernard v.
    March 11, 2024

    Great customer service and excellent plants of the highest quality that are packed and shipped with the utmost care and attention to ensure safe arrival. Definitely recommend !!

    Brenton Jennings Avatar Brenton J.
    March 11, 2024

    Excellent service, healthy plants, professionally packed, definitely worth buying from Living Desert Plants, you won't be sorry. Regards Basil

    Basil Gorlt Avatar Basil G.
    March 11, 2024
  • Very impressed with the excellent service and succulents purchased.

    Lesley -Anne van Niekerk Avatar Lesley -.
    March 11, 2024

    What amazing service! They were very patient answering all my questions and requests. I can't stop buying plants from them lol! 10/10 would highly recommend. The plants' roots are all... read more

    Leonard Vermeer Avatar Leonard V.
    March 11, 2024

    Great Plants and great packaging!!

    Edzard Grimbeek Avatar Edzard G.
    March 11, 2024
  • Amazing selection of plants, excellent website, chock full of useful information and always a good experience with delivery.

    Peta Goldberg Avatar Peta G.
    March 11, 2024

    Excellent service. Very well packed. Love my monkey tail cactus. Highly recommended. Thank you very much for small gift.

    Renoir G Avatar Renoir G.
    March 11, 2024

    I have been buying at LDP for quite a few years now, and in that time: I was never disappointed with their service or any plant! It is a seamless... read more

    Marina Smit Avatar Marina S.
    March 11, 2024

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