Celebrity TV gardener and designer Joe Swift, a long time customer of Camden Garden Centre, joined staff and customers in Richmond yesterday to officially open The Plant Room, a new houseplant lovers paradise on Sheen Road, just 15 minutes walk from the new Little Dobbies.

Camden Garden Centre MD, Peter Hulatt, told GTN Xtra: "We've been working on this idea for about three years and only found this shop in this location earlier this year, around the same time as Dobbies announced they were opening a Little Dobbies here too."

The plant emporium is on two floors of what used to be a rug shop with the ground floor being the main plant shop area lavishly stocked with houseplants from Javado plus cacti from Giromagi, supplied by Key Essentials.

"Houseplants have been a really vibrant part of the mix at Camden Garden Centre for 10 years now, so along with the charity trustees, we felt the time was right to set up this new venture," added Peter.

A small garden products section with seeds from Mr Fothergills, tools from Burgon & Ball and plant care from Growth Technology sits at the back of the plant displays.

Downstairs features trendy home and garden lines from PTMD, plus pot covers from Ivyline, with Woodlodge providing the terracotta pots for outside urban gardening.

With many of the staff coming from Camden Garden Centre there's plenty of great advice on hand to help both novices and experienced plant lovers.