About Bluewater Palms

Origins Of Our Nursery

Bluewater Palms owner, Valerie, began her business with a letter-writing campaign in the late 1980s. A member of the International Palm Society, she contacted forestry departments, botanical gardens and even private collectors around the world for seeds to build up what is now one of the most extensive collections of palms in North Queensland.

She planted many of the seeds and they grew into the basis of her nursery, Bluewater Palmetum. Those plants have continued to produce the seeds for her business, which has helped enhance home gardens for more than 35 years.

Valerie and some fellow enthusiasts then sought to create the “Townsville Palmetum”, convincing Townsville City Council of the need for a botanical garden in Annandale, featuring only palms. It opened in 1988.

About this time, she changed the name of her nursery to Bluewater Palms to avoid confusion. The nursery moved to its Forestry Road address in the late ’90s.