Add your local garden centers here!

Dave's been working on a new feature where we can input and rate our local garden centers, public gardens, etc. Check it out!
http://davesgarden.com/products/go/

And here's the thread discussing how it got started
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/672584/

There are several people who've been adding a bunch of things in the Bay Area, but there's not too much in here yet for the rest of the state so I figured I'd post here and let people know about it so we can get the rest of our favorite places in here too!

ecrane, thanks for starting this thread. One of the important differences that will distinguish this feature from other general "trip advisor" or "yellow pages" sites is the input from each of us as gardeners.

Please add your feedback for the businesses you've patronized and the public gardens and parks you have visited. It helps other gardeners and the business or organization.

For smaller businesses and organizations, this type of "word of mouth" is their only form of advertising. And for businesses of any size, unsolicited testimonials are priceless - they can't buy that type of good will.

Here are the California listings so far: http://davesgarden.com/go/advanced.php?state=ca

You can narrow this down to a particular category (garden center/nursery, or public gardens, etc.) You can also plug in your ZIP and specify a radius (especially helpful if you live near the state line and want to see everything in your immediate area.)

If your favorite nursery or park/garden isn't listed yet, let us know and we'll add it, or start the entry and add what you know (we'll fill in the blanks.)

This is SO cool---next time I want to go on a nursery crawl, I'll know where to look!

Thanks ecrane3! Just added one. Appreciate you making this a sticky!!

Nancy

You have Terry to thank for it being a sticky :) And I posted for selfish reasons since I want to know where all the good nurseries are, so really no need for thanks!

Thanks , It will be nice to be able to say , lets go to a nursery and have a name , adddress and phone # instead of Home depot or wallmart

To whom it may concern:

My phone number is not Parkview's Nursery's phone number. I have endorsed their business on many occasions but the phone number is a private phone. It is listed so no harm done but the correct phone number for Parkview Nursery is (951)351-6900.

Thanks,

Chuck

Chuck, I've updated their entry with the phone number you provided above.

Ooppp Wrong forum Sorry

This message was edited May 2, 2007 10:34 AM

I have been going to Sego Nursery in North Hollywood for the past 50 yrs or more, I go there because of their excellent advice, and they have a certified hortculturist on staff. It is family owned and three generation Calif. family, they specialize on the newest Roses on the market, Lots of herbs, they tell me a lot of garden hints, like use Epson Salt to get the citrus trees to set flower and set fruit.
They told me that Safer's Soap is just soap and water, so mix my own at home,

Terry Armstrong Nursery in No. Hollywood on Magnolia Blvd. and Coldwater has more overall plants for the garden, steping stones, pots, water fountains, small fish ponds, very some cactus and succulents with correct names most of the time , Roses, general garden plants but up to date on the new hybrid plants, bulbs, lots of interesting accessories for the garden. I also have been going there for 50 years but they are not as sharp in advise, and service. Norma

Hi Norma, you should add your comments to the listings on Gardens.com http://gardens.com/go/ Dave's moved things around a bit since I posted the original links so I'm not sure if those take you to the right place anymore. If your nurseries are already listed then you can just add your comments and rating for them, or if they're not in the database then you'll have to add them first and then you can put in your comments.

Norma, I created an entry for Sego Nursery here: http://gardens.com/go/view/17523/

and here's the entry for the Armstrong Garden Center on Magnolia: http://gardens.com/go/view/4748/

No one has reviewed either of these yet, so I hope you'll post your reviews to each of these entries - what you know will help others, and encourage more folks to add their $0.02 worth ;o)

I just added a gem that I found last week. Hopefully it's not a duplicate entry? It is an "environmentally sustainable retail and wholesale nursery in Alameda," located by the old naval base. They specialize in locally grown native, drought tolerant and food plants. I'm a novice to gardening, but found the staff to be friendly and extremely knowledgeable. They offer a robust selection of native plants - they choose to sell plants that should do well in a variety of soils (even if amendments have been added), to avoid discouraging newbies like myself from native gardening. One caveat - they tend to close on rainy days so call ahead of time.

New to the group, but here is my favorite nursery in Northern Sacramento Area of Redding, CA:
http://wyntourgardens.com/index.php

They have a wide selection of plants that fit the area, they have a great staff and they have classes to help others.

If you wouldn't mind, can you add your review to its entry in Go Gardening? http://davesgarden.com/products/go/view/1452/ I started this thread to encourage people to go over there and post reviews, that way they're all in one central place and everyone knows where to go to find them. There's actually a contest going on right now for adding entries and reviews to Go Gardening so feel free to review other nurseries in your area too! (there's a thread on the Dave's Garden forum if you want more details about the contest)

EXOTIC GARDENS: Great cactus and succulent nursery in San Diego, 2212 El Cajon Blvd. Very good prices, huge selection, totally local business, the owner is a very nice guy. They have anything between tiny sedums and huge aloes. Also some ferns and bromeliads. Lots of his plants are from abandoned gardens, discarded stuff, and he nurses them back to life. Here is their website: http://www.exoticgardens.biz

An added bonus is a Russian restaurant nearby, called Pomegranat. Check it out, excellent!

Hi nomosno, I didn't see an entry for that one in Go Gardening--could you add it in and put your review there? I started this thread in hopes that people would enter all their local nurseries in Go Gardening, that way it's all in a central location and anyone who's looking for nurseries in that area can find it easily. Here's the link to Go Gardening, or you can go to the "products and sources" tab and you'll find a link for it there too. http://davesgarden.com/products/go/

Hi ecrane3, I posted a review on Exotic Gardens which was already in the database and added a new entry for City Farmers + wrote a review http://davesgarden.com/products/go/view/19312/. They are by far my two favorite nurseries in San Diego, closely follows them Mission Hills nursery which is another full spectrum nursery, not a chain, but a bit more mainstream in presentation. Someone has already reviewed that one.

Thanks! It's funny, when I went to look for Exotic Gardens after I first saw your post it didn't come up in the search, maybe someone else just added it yesterday (or the search engine was being funny!). Also you can feel free to add a review even if someone else already has one in there, it always helps to have additional perspective. Sometimes you might have a little different opinion, or even if you both love the place that's useful to know, if I come across a nursery that has several reviews raving about how great it is then I'll know that's a place I need to visit. This is supposed to work sort of like Garden Watchdog, where ideally as many people as possible will review each nursery so we get a good picture of how good (or not) it really is. So I'd encourage you to definitely add reviews for any nurseries that you go to regularly even if others have already reviewed them. And if there are places you've been to once and haven't been back again that's always good to know about too so other people don't waste their time going to a nursery that's not as good.

Just added my review for Pearson's in Vista, CA - http://davesgarden.com/products/go/view/17273/

What a great place, and so close to home! Herbs galore, veggies, scented geraniums, lavender, culinary sages and flowering Salvias - their mint collection is incredible.

How about Orange County?

My faves in Orange County are: Cottage Nursery Gardens in Westminster (formerly Heards Gardens), Brita's Old Town Nursery in Seal Beach and Laguna Gardens on Laguna Canyon Road.

All independent, cottage garden oriented, with surprises all the time. Cottage and Brita's often carry things from Annie's Annuals. All offer drought-tolerant items and natives, too.

I also have to put in a good word for Village Nurseries. They have a location in NoCal which I didn't know about, and several down south. The thing I really like about them is their great selection of grasses. They are a large operation and they have pretty much anything and everything you could want, and they'll get it for you if they don't. Even though they're largely to the trade, they're still friendly to us hard-core retail folks.

Also, want to say a good word for Las Pilitas which I recently made a nearly two-hour drive to get to to get a pinus contorta contorta, a "beach pine". Imagine that...having to drive way inland to get a native tree for the beach because NOBODY else had it or could get it! They also have a location in central Cal.

This message was edited Jun 19, 2009 12:35 AM

Here's a link to the Go Gardening page where you can enter your comments--that way people who look up those particular nurseries can see your comments too http://davesgarden.com/products/go/ If some of your favorite nurseries aren't in the database yet you can add them.

Surf, next time you're looking for a hard to find native plant, try Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano (in case you didn't know about it). It's not quite so far!

Thanks, ecrane3, for the link. It's a bit of work to add one's entries, but I will as I have time.

KaperC, yes, I've been to Tree of Life, many times. They have a lot of nice things, perennials, trees, etc., but they didn't have that pine I wanted.

Good, I'm glad you know about it. I live about 5 miles from Las Pilitas, but drive up to TOL several times a year. :-)

Laguna Hills Nursery has re-opened!!!

Not in Laguna Hills, but maintaining the name. They are now in Santa Ana, just north of the intersection of Tustin Ave and Seventeenth St (on Tustin). This is west, then north, of the 17th street exit (west) off the 55 freeway.

I am SO HAPPY. I have basically not been gardening more than it takes to keep the HOA off my back, for three or four years! I'm suddenly enthused to garden again!

Well well well...look who resurfaced !!!
(And with good news, too !)

Great news! Sounds like the former Armstrong location. I'll have to go check it out.

Carol