@Jilly Did the Calloway’s on Hulen St. in Fort Worth close? That’s where we always shopped for plants.

Allison - Soares Nursery is an awesome business. It has a great reputation. Sadly, it's on the complete opposite end of Cape Cod from me and I don't get to it often.

Fun, it’s still there, and it’s the closest to me, but I’ve been kind of disappointed in them lately. I think Ida has a much better one by her!

I feel so spoiled that I have the choice to never buy plants from HD/Lowes. It makes me sad that plant nurseries (real locally owned ones) are closing places. One did close here, probably because the land was incredibly valueable for development. I'm glad the others haven't closed, but I do worry they may some day.

Goodness we have an abundance here! Most of them grow a significant % of their perennials and annuals and some of their trees. They range from places with tempting home goods and plants arranged outdoors like a high end department store to small family places with greenhouses that are little more than a lean-to held up with baling wire and gum! I have shopped most of them once or twice since we've lived here but my go to is a mile away, offers free seminars, a great Perks Program and has the most amazing staff . The selection is wonderful, too.

DLM, the seminars sound wonderful!

I'm in central New Jersey, but unlike @kitchenwitch we have quite a few smaller, family owned plant nurseries. One of our favorites was sold last year, but reopened with a new family run nursery. We rarely buy anything from Home Depot or Lowes because we have some better choices.

Blubird, glad your fav reopened … I was so shocked ours didn’t.

As a sidenote, I’ve spent a lot of time in NJ … so many pretty areas there. :)

@Jilly i do live in a pretty area. Something you'd appreciate, I live in Monmouth County which, according to the numbers in 2018 ”New Jersey boasts more horses per square mile than any other state and most are found on horse farms and ranches in Monmouth and Hunterdon Counties. In 1977, the horse was designated the official state animal and a horse’s head appears on the state seal.” I'm lucky to pass horses in almost every direction.

Jilly they do great seminars on when/how to 'wake up your garden' and how to put it to sleep' because so many here are transplants from different growing zones and timing is different. Also spring pruning classes and workshops (a modest cost) where you leave with a finished product like containers for all the seasons and holidays, wreaths, succulents, holiday table decor and so on. Plus they do fundraisers throughout the year - it's a wonderful community resource, a real gem.

Another Jersey resident - I'm in Burlington County in South Jersey. My favorite nursery is only a few miles from my home and we've known the owner for over 40 years. It's a fantastic place not huge, but he is very knowledgeable and will order plants for us that he doesn't happen to have in stock. There is still an abundance of farmland here and only a few of the smaller nurseries have closed.

This is the plant he suggested we buy 3 years ago and I'm so thrilled he mentioned it. It's an Edgeworthia and is now if full bloom with a wonderful scent.

This photo was taken yesterday.

Blubird, that’s amazing — I had no idea! Now I love your area even more. :)

DLM, how I wish we had something like that in my town, it sounds wonderful. I’d so enjoy that!

Maire, wow! Your Edgeworthia is beautiful! I love the sculptural aspect of it. We need a scratch-n-sniff feature here.

Marie Cate, edgeworthia is one of my favorite plants!

I definitely miss the smaller nurseries because I was able to find a lot more interesting plants. But I will have to say that the boxes here. Have been carrying some nice things. My area does have two very good big nurseries and I buy things everywhere.

Bumble, once in a while I find a gem at our big box stores, but it’s getting rarer and rarer. Ours are like the Golden Corral of nurseries — lots of stock, but it all tastes the same and the menu never changes. :D

I am also one of the fortunate ones -- there are two family-run nurseries in my town, both excellent. Another family-owned one in the next town which I discovered only last year (my sister, visiting from CT, got lost on a back road on her way to my house, stopped at this place for directions, and told me about it. I promptly forced my DH to drive me there, lol, as I do not drive. They now have a repeat customer -- I went there 4 times last summer, and can't wait for them to open in a few days!). And the fourth nursery is only 20 minutes drive away, and very superior -- they also do seasonal classes at very reasonable cost for making everything from pots, baskets, holiday decorations, cement troughs and so much else. They grow all their own plants and shrubs, as do the others I have mentioned. Bonanza!! This place is a generational family business, as are all the other ones locally. Riches, indeed.

I've been gardening here for almost 25 years, first house we've owned. I wish I still had the strength and stamina I had when I started, but age limitations are creeping ever onward. Frustrating to finally have the discretionary funding for this hobby but not the ability to perform as much as I would like!! le sigh....

Roxanna, hugs … I’m sorry you can’t do as much. ❤️

I’ll bet your yard looks gorgeous!

I’m so jealous of all of you who have such interactive nurseries — the classes sound wonderful.

Hmm … maybe I should start some in my area. ;)

Jilly - I still do what I can, have a willing helper for the more intensive stuff like weeding, and am beginning to just let Mother Nature have her way. It's all messier than it was or should be, but still a source of pleasure and joy. Now that I "know" how to post photos here, perhaps I shall share some of my gardens thru time, from beginning with a fairly blank slate to the semi-wilderness it is now. You have been warned!

As for you starting some gardening workshops, go for it!! You'd be great and I bet it would be a popular thing for the public. The ones here locally get sold out frequently (for the price, which is very reasonable, all supplies are included, from plants to the hard stuff like pots, wreath forms, etc.). If you would like to see what they offer, PM me and send your post address -- I can send you the brochure. Or their website which shows the workshops to give you an idea.

Thank you, Roxanna!

Lots and lots of locally owned nurseries in Los Angeles County, and they tend to specialize in certain types of plants - many sell mainly succulents and cacti, and some specialize in exotic fruit trees, especially in Asian neighborhoods.

Since you can grow just about anything here (except plants that need a cold winter), it is necessary to have a lot of specialty nurseries.

In the Palm Springs area, there are local nurseries that specialize in the cacti and desert plants that grow here. We went to one in February just north of Palm Springs that has a lot of cacti and desert plants and asked about Ocotillo. The owner said that he imports them from Arizona and should have some in April or May. The resorts here order them in quantity, and he said that we should have some leftovers from a recent order. You have to buy them when they are in bloom in order to be sure that they are alive - they are dormant in the winter.

We bought a Saguaro cactus and a fishhook cactus in February, as well as a few others that make nice flowers.

Lars, I’d love to browse at the nurseries there. You reminded me — the last of ours to close always had a great section of large varieties of cacti and succulents I can’t find anywhere else nearby.

The mature ones are so expensive, they get stolen right out of residential yards!

Off to look up fishhook cactus, I’ve never heard of it …

Here's what ours looks like

It bloomed recently and still has the fruit that the flowers make.

Yes, we have Earth Touch, The Greenery, Bennetts, and Huntsville Nursery.

Lars, love that cactus!

Sherry, I so wish we had places like that still. I’m hoping another one opens someday, as our area is growing so rapidly.

Jilly, they still do not carry what they used to carry. a very long time ago, I used to buy flats of a certain ageratum and alyssum every spring. I have not seen them in years anywhere.

Jilly, I second the vote for you to organize and teach classes. It seems you'd be great at it!

Thank you! :)

Carol, that sounds so rewarding … and your roses are beautiful!

Sherry, don’t forget Reseda, The Catbird Seat, and the other Indian Creek Wholesale nursery in Madison. Bennetts and Earth Touch are my favorites but I do visit IC on occasion.

I forgot to mention we also have a pretty big plant sale in spring and fall at our Botanical garden. I volunteer in the greenhouses and we grow or propagate many of the plants we sell. Not as many as we once did because it is hard to do and people are not so interested in the thjngs we once propagated. And the Master Gardeners also hold a great plant sale at a large exhibition center here too. Good stuff.

I should have mentioned that while HD and Lowes probably don’t have anything unusual or exotic most of the time, they do buy from nearby nurseries, or at least I know HD does. Most home gardeners or contractors who buy there want what is easy to grow and don’t care if it is unusual or not. The other day when I happened to be in there, the actual vendors were setting up the stock they were unloading. Maybe not true so much for their shrubs and trees, but their perennials, annuals and vegetable stock does come from local vendors. Plus they give a military discount of 10% so it is worth it to me to buy some things there.

How disappointing that you have Calloway's close to you and it isn't great. I think there was one near me when I lived in Dallas, but my previous owner did such a great job with the garden that all I did was tend to it and find a place to tuck in some veggies and herbs. I would see another one when I went to Denton while DS was in school there. My car wanted to turn in -- it was so pretty from the street.

If you are in a developing area, I suspect it is a time of transition. Like you said -- more homes will need more plants, but old nurseries get pushed out and new homes get built with the minimal planting the builders put into place, but most people won't plant more right away. SOme not until harsh weather kills everything. Then it booms. There is a nursery near me that sells both commercial and residential. They were flooded during Harvey and probably a couple of other times since they border on a large creek. I wondered if it would put them out of business, but the floods and the freezes have made nurseries a booming business. They expanded and doubled in size.

That reminds me -- one of the plant sources we have is a guy whose main job is science teacher at the high school near me. He lives 15 minutes away and sells plants, specializing in natives, off a website (for pick up or delivery) and with a few open houses on his driveway each spring. It's not year round -- just a side gig, but he's had nice plants. Like I said -- where there's a need and those opportunities present themselves, people will find ways to meet the demand. Maybe start some classes, plant sales or find a group to work with in doing it.

Anyway, I hope you can find a good source for the three you are looking for. Have you asked if they will be getting them in? The cold then warm then cool pattern has the plants coming in a little slower and everyone's ready for them NOW! Maybe the places you have looked will have them in a couple more weeks?

Thank you, lascatx! I have asked about the three I need; they said it’s unlikely they’ll be getting those.

"don’t forget Reseda, The Catbird Seat, and the other Indian Creek Wholesale nursery in Madison"

Those are hard to get to for me. The traffic is awful.

The dwarf agertum and the alyssum were very easy to grow. Bloomed all summer from early April until frost in late October, but no one sells them.

I went to Lowe’s at lunch today (had a gift card) and wow, plant prices are up again. I needed herbs — the smallest containers were nearly $5.

I got some potting mix, two pots of Basils, one pot of Spearmint, two smallish pots of Salvia ’Greggii’, hand clippers, and gloves. Total: $87. Yikes. Glad I had a gift card.

Ouch! Both on those prices and that they don't expect more of the plants you want. We missed a plant sale yesterday -- VIP time and the only time you can really hope to get the things you probably want, but a storm was moving through and it started lightening and thundering here, though the arboretum apparently got a break during that time period. We had an early breakfast meeting and decided to give it a shot afterward. I had a list of about 4 things -- we got one of one of them (agastache), but I wasn't big on the varieties they had and the Ace that's no more than 2 miles from our house said they could order some on Monday. I looked for your 3 -- even thought were 4 hours or so apart, I looked. Didn't see any of them here either. Have you tried looking for seed? Or looked to see if any grow from cuttings? The catmint might (I did find a catmint, but not the one you are looking for).

We bought a couple extra basils and mints -- $2.50 each. DH wanted more guara and talking to a lady in line, I was convinced to get a plumeria for $8. I always thought they were a fuss, but she and her mom made them sound so easy. We'll see! Still looking for a climbing hydrangea, a couple raspberry salvias and a Mercer blue thumbergia and may pick up some more agastache if I find colors I like that smell good. They are a pollinator magnet, but it was the fragrance of the leaves that first drew me too them. Pineapple sage is another that smells good when you water or brush against it, and it's always nice to have one of those types in the garden. I'll keep a lookout -- I've bought plants that have been shipped to me, so I've picked up some pointers in the unpacking and shipping should be only a day between our two cities if planned well.

Daddy bluebird is at the feeder reminding me that we didn't put out any worms for him and Momma this morning, so I guess I'd better get back to work..... Let me know if you find your plants.

That is so kind, lascatx, thank you! :)

DH said he wanted to take me on a ”Date Day” tomorrow … have a nice lunch and drive around the Metroplex hunting plants. :D

I’d forgotten about a place in Ft Worth that might have what I need. But man, they’re so crowded on Saturdays, you can barely walk around.

Enjoyed hearing about your day!

Even though we have great nurseries locally I occasionally buy plants online. Today I received 2 swamp milkweeds from Joyful Butterfly. Couldn't believe how big and beautiful they were. Sure it's more expensive, but sometimes it's worth it to get what you want.

https://www.joyfulbutterfly.com/

I bought some plants from them, including some tomentosa pipevine I'm waiting to establish and grow more and purple milkweed that didn't make it. I don't know if it was not in the ground at the right time, inthe right place or if it was before I learned to add mycorrhizae when planting -- maybe some of all the above, but Joyful Butterfly does send healthy plants well protected (almost too hard to unpack - LOL).

First I've heard of mycorrhizae. Have never used anything like that when transplanting.

We picked up my two pink/white striped azaleas today. I ordered them through Tractor Supply and had them shipped to the local store (free shipping). They are very healthy, good size plants and one partially open bud, but not enough to where I can see the stripes! Now to decide for sure where to plant them.

Today I ordered a fairy rose from Amazon. I'm going to plant it in a cast iron wash tub that I brought from my grandparents house. My pappaw used to have iris in it. I know my great-grandmother had it before my grandmother, but not sure if she was the original owner. I have ordered plants many times online. Being outside of the city, we only have that one nursery. I do sometimes find some good plants at Lowes, basics mostly. I need to go there for some monkey grass, or maybe mondo grass. The local nursery here in my area also has stone, mulch, etc. and we need to pick up some more flagstone. I have one bed we are expanding a bit and a new one we started last year with oak leaf hydrangeas and drift roses. The expanded bed is going to get flagstone, not sure about the new bed.

Does anyone like the plant/grow Veronica? I tried it for the first time last year and loved it! I had a deep blue and a pink plant (both in pots). The blue one is coming back but haven't seen any growth of the pink one yet. I also planted some type of bush last year that for the life of me I cannot remember what it is?! I need to look through my file of tags that come on plants and see if that will help me LOL.

Judi, thanks for that link — I was going to ask if any of you had good online sources. Will check them out, since you and Lascatx like them.

Tina, I had Veronica at my last house and loved it. Glad you reminded me of that! I’ll put it on my list.

Jilly, I don't know where you live, but Almost Eden is another great source.

https://www.almostedenplants.com/

Thanks, Judi! Just looked and drooled. :D

(I’m in D/FW.)

Oh, then that would be perfect for you.

For online shrubs, I have bought Proven Winners from Romence Gardens and Garden Crossings. Of course local stores and nurseries have PWs too but I like to see what else is out there.

Thank you, Outside!

I wasn't familiar with Veronica and had to go look it up. Pretty.

Tina Marie, I'm glad I'm not the only one with mystery plants. I wound up with one that stayed in its pot for 2-3 years. Maybe longer. We didn't know where to put it! We waited to see if it bloomed and gave us a clue, but it hasn't. I tried using my phone to ID it with a photo and it told me the plant was Malabar spinach, which is a plant I know and was certain it was not. I asked some butterfly gardeners if they recognized the plant and go several quick answers -- firespike! I had another I haad forgotten the name of that my iphone lookup correctly identified and we were able to plant that one more quickly.

Judi, mycorrhizae are basically a type pf fungus that grows in a symbiotic relationship with plants -- they help each other. I learned about them in trying to re-establish native milkweeds in my area. Some of us had tried different things for a few years when someone studying the plants discovered that it was not just th difference in soils or location that would cause the plants to fail, it was the lack of the right mycorrhizae in the soil. Without them, the milkweeds would not develop strong root structures and not live as long -- if at all. A lot of planting soils and foods now have them. It's like their probiotics and prebiotics.

Jilly, Monrovia has an option to order from their site and have items sent to a nursery near you for pick up -- no shipping charge, or sent directly to you. .

We have many locally owned and/or family owned nurseries in our area. I can think of five right off the top of my head. We’re lucky in that way.

We still have lots of local nurseries, family owned. I no longer use them. They have BIG contracts, selling in quantity to landscapers....good for them! They are super busy! I'm just in the way, poking around.

I am sticking to the big box stores and finding ALL the odd items. I LOVE the selection! I took over the landscaping for my HOA entryways. Last year they had a $9k budget. I so far have spent $800. Yes. I have money left over and will be buying HUGE amounts of flowers....somewhere. I did some online shopping for Fall flower bulbs, lilies & daffodils. Picked up a couple of Double Knockout rose bushes....and I'm ready to start shopping...🐞 They also approved $9K for bark mulch. Insane isn't it. Van Bourgondien is my GO TO for great quality bulbs....

https://www.dutchbulbs.com/category/lilies-spring#/filter:filter_shipping_season:Fall

Thanks, everyone! I’ve enjoyed reading about your experiences.

We just got home — went to three different nurseries out of town (it’s chilly and super windy today, so we didn’t linger as long as normal) and had a nice lunch.

I got Cordyline, Salvia ’Greggii’ (prettiest deep purple!), Gaura ’Whirling Butterflies’, a variety of zinnias, and a flat of purslane. Oh, and Sunflower seeds:

I have lots of Mexican Sunflowers every year, wanted to add some variety.

Monarchs love them. :)