It is not often that you walk into a shop and find a well-thumbed copy of Plato's Republic lying open, face-down, obviously in the process of actually being read. But then Tuscan Pots is not your average shop, and Robert Moy is a shopkeeper in a class of his own.

When I walked in, all I could see was pots. But by the time I left, my head was spinning with facts on the Etruscans, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the rococco period, and I had a recipe for cooking the olives from the trees he sells.

The man has a passion for everything Italian.

Mr Moy set up the business in Botley Road, Oxford, six years ago after 10 years of living in Tuscany, where he worked in garden design.

Initially, he worked for the ex-pats, but as he learned Italian, the nurseries there trained him so he could work for them too.

After coming back to England, he decided to sell pots, for several reasons.

He said: "I was in gardening and I knew the potters over there. I had an understanding that the market was strong over here and it was something I'd been doing.

"Italian gardens were commonplace to me and it was what people were beginning to look for in England."

He began by selling Italian-designed Chinese pots, made following Fairtrade principles. They were cheap but good quality and lasted well through the winter, with Mr Moy reporting that he does not know of a broken one in six years.

They range in price from £15 to £200. As for Italian-made pots, Mr Moy has been progressing up the hierarchy, and last year started selling Impruneta, which he refers to as the champagne of terracotta'.

He explained: "It's a village just outside Florence and it's where the River Arno seems to have the siltiest clay.

"The Italian government protects this clay and only licenses it out to seven artisans, who are able to produce this sort of pot. We started selling these about a year ago and they've been very successful."

Unsurprisingly, they are not cheap, ranging in price from £120 to £4,000 for a large pot, but they are beautiful and come with a 10-year guarantee.

He also sells Italian olive and cloud trees and loves advising people on garden design.

That is another interesting thing about Mr Moy. Money is not his be-all and end-all.

He said: "If people are going to buy pots and plants from me and give me a bit of their trust, then I don't charge for helping them," he said.

"I spend a lot of time in people's gardens, just having a glass of wine and a chat."

He also tries to do the best by his suppliers.

"I pay my people straightaway. I never take any credit, so they know they're getting paid. It's goodwill. I treat people the way I like to be treated myself. Simple as that."

His approach to business seems to be paying dividends. His average turnover is about £250,000 a year.

Mr Moy added: "We're finding that more customers are coming in and spending more and more money.

"Jobs of £4-5,000 are becoming a weekly event, whereas once upon a time it was wow'. I think people are beginning to appreciate what we are."

Mr Moy has big plans for the shop. He is planning to turn the alleyway that runs down to the back garden into an emperor's tent.

He said: "I love Marcus Aurelius and his meditations, and I just envisaged a man like him, sitting around with beautiful things, preparing to go into battle, and that's what I really want this to become."

The room where he currently sells plaques is also being changed.

"The plan is to put rococco tapestries in. It's a style after baroque, very decadent, and I do believe the market's going in that direction.

"Impruneta has agreed to make rococco pots. They'll find the casts and moulds in the cellars of the museums in Florence that haven't been used for 50 or 60 years, and they will put them back together and reproduce them."

Meanwhile, he is planning to put four-metre palm and cypress tress in the back garden, with some large marble and Impruneta pots.

He said: "Most of the market is not going to buy them but they will draw inspiration from them and buy something else, and that's what it's about."

A wider selection of Italian plants can be viewed by appointment at The Herb Garden run by Peter and Val Williams in Kingston Bagpuize.

Mr Moy has no plans to take on extra people, as he thrives on the buzz of doing everything himself and does not want to lose the personal touch.

He added: "I've done a lot of things in my life and I'm trying to put it all together here."

Perhaps he should rename his shop A Little Slice of Italy, because that is what you get, and what is the betting that once experienced, you will soon be back for more.

Call 01865 251599.