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Illustration by Patrick Hruby / Los Angeles Times; animation by Li Anne Liew / For The Times

24 fantastic SoCal plant shops for holiday gifts

By Jeanette Marantos

and Lisa Boone

Nov. 2, 2022 9 AM PT

For Subscribers

This is part of the L.A. Times 2022 Gift Guide. See the full guide here.

All nurseries sell plants, naturally, but what if you’re in the market for tools or pots or a nice garden hat? Where can you find the best selection of yard-related items, from patio furniture to decorative doodads?

Never fear! These SoCal garden centers offer a wide range of gift-worthy merchandise and yes, gift-worthy plants. Some of those stores sell holiday trees, wreaths and other decor, so you can manage lots of holiday shopping in one fell swoop.

Showing Places

Avalon Nursery & Ceramics

South Park Edible, native, drought-tolerant plants

South Los Angeles’ only enduring nursery feels more like a wild botanic garden than a family-owned business on a busy corner. This is a full-service nursery — it even offers cut Christmas trees in late November — with a wide selection of trees (including fruit trees), shrubs, squares of sod, vegetable seedlings, roses, succulents, soil amendments and colorful ceramics, in addition to a lush “green room,” where most of the houseplants reside. Closed on Tuesdays and rainy days.

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Many and varied potted plants on the ground and on shelves at C&S Nursery in Baldwin Hills, March 2022

C&S Garden Center

Lawndale Shopping and recreation

For more than 30 years the Rosales family has run a sprawling, 1-acre open-air nursery in Baldwin Hills, offering native plants, drought-tolerant plants, vegetable starts, fruit trees and a wide variety of decorative shrubs, trees and succulents, with many of the plants grown in their production facilities in Temecula. In 2021, the family opened its second location, C&S Garden Center, in Lawndale, with a wide selection of indoor plants, vegetable seedlings, garden tools (including a line of Japanese Kinboshi pruning and trimming shears), accessories, tons of colorful containers and even raw organic honey harvested from the family-owned ranch in Tecate, Mexico. They create cozy plant and furniture nooks for chilling in the store, with instructions on how to re-create the scene at home, so if you’re looking for green inspiration, you can sit comfortably and take in all the surrounding plants.

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Seedlings with a small signs reading "Biquinho Yellow Hot Pepper," left, and a larger sign reading "specialty peppers"

Cal Poly Pomona Nursery at the Cal Poly Farm Store

Pomona Edibles

The nursery outside Cal Poly Pomona’s Farm Store has a big selection of vegetable seedlings, berries and fruit trees, houseplants, succulents, landscaping trees, vines and shrubs. Much of the inventory is grown by students at Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture. You can find gardening supplies at this nursery too, and while you’re there, take a minute to browse through the Farm Store, which features student-grown organic produce as well as specialty foods.

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A wood building in an outdoor display of plants

Fig Earth Supply

Highland Park Edibles

In addition to organic edible, native and medicinal plants, owner Conor Fitzpatrick stocks a wide variety of houseplants, including fiddle-leaf figs, philodendron and calathea. Fitzpatrick also presents regular classes — virtually and in person — spanning houseplant basics to cannabis cultivation.

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Glendora Gardens

Glendora Edible, native, drought-tolerant plants

This 4-acre nursery is part garden inspiration — with scenic paths and koi ponds (where you can feed the fish) — and another 6 acres of growing grounds, where many of its ornamental trees, shrubs and perennials are grown. This must-see garden center is designed for strolling and exploring, with a large selection of California native and Mediterranean-climate plants, berries, veggies, fruit trees, roses, succulents and houseplants along with bagged and bulk soils, pots and garden equipment. There’s even a Little Free Library filled with children’s books for antsy kids.

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Green Thumb Nursery

Ventura Shopping and recreation

Green Thumb Nursery is a locally owned Southern California chain, with five stores in Canoga Park, Lake Forest, San Marcos, Santa Clarita and Ventura. It’s hard to imagine what kind of garden-centered merchandise you can’t buy here — the offerings include Christmas trees and wreaths, a huge selection of vegetable plant seedlings and seeds, fruit trees, ornamentals, houseplants, bagged and bulk soils and amendments, fountains, trellises, tools, furniture, bird feeders, even garden gazing balls. Green Thumb carries a good variety of drought-tolerant plants, including California native plants.

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Pants, candles, socks and gifts at a gift shop

Greenwood Shop

Studio City Gift Store

By Lisa Boone

Situated on a bustling retail strip in Studio City in what longtime locals will remember as Mark’s Tropical Fish, Greenwood Shop offers a nice mix of plants along with ceramics, hand poured candles and incense, home decor and apothecary items by local makers. “My goal is to provide unique gifts for yourself and others,” says owner Kate Nelson. “My focus is on home goods, including one-of-a-kind locally made pottery, jewelry (much of which is created by Southern California women designers such as Maddalena Bearzi, Margaret Solow and Lili T.), apothecary and more. We also have a very extensive collection of ornaments for the holidays.” Keep an eye on the store’s Instagram account for a block party and holiday sale hosted with some of the other businesses on the street. In addition to houseplants, which are available for local delivery via Door Dash and Uber Eats, the store also offers custom succulent planters.

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Jackalope Pottery & Plants

North Hollywood Plant Shop

This longtime North Hollywood garden center offers fountains, pottery and indoor and outdoor plants, including unusual varieties (aquatic plants, trees, unique succulents and drought-tolerant plants), sourced locally from responsible growers.

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Laguna Hills Nursery

Santa Ana Edibles

This family-owned nursery features its own specially designed “Top Pot” potting soil mix, along with an extensive selection of fruit trees, vegetable starts, berries, herbs, roses, annuals, perennials and “exceptional ornamental” landscape trees and plants, along with garden supplies and containers.

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Lincoln Avenue Nursery

Pasadena Edible, native, drought-tolerant plants

This century-plus-old nursery was started by a German immigrant family in 1903, then purchased in 1923 by the Takemura family, who owned it until it was sold in 2003 to the present owner, Ramon Franco, who immigrated from Mexico and became a landscape contractor and frequent customer until taking over the business. This is a great place to wander for inspiration and bird song, as well as for an enormous selection of garden pots and equipment as well as landscape and fruit trees (including citrus), vegetable seedlings, herbs and other edibles, roses, shrubs, shade and houseplants and a good selection of California native and drought-tolerant plants.

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Louie's Nursery

Riverside Edibles, drought-tolerant plants

This is another traditional, little-bit-of-everything type nursery, with a big selection of vegetable seedlings, berries and fruit and nut trees, including citrus, along with ornamental trees, shrubs and blooming perennials, California native and other “water-wise” plants, roses, soils and amendments, gardening equipment and lots of pots.

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A woman peruses seedlings on many tables outside

Parkview Nursery

Riverside Edible, native, drought-tolerant plants

This is the larger of Parkview’s two nurseries, with long wide tables of vegetable seedlings and herbs, native and drought-tolerant plants, annuals and flowering perennials, exotic shade plants and rows and rows of trees, both ornamental and fruiting. You won’t find any citrus here, however, as the store is in a citrus-controlled area, but its smaller sister store at 3841 Jackson St. in Riverside has a huge selection. Both stores also offer a vast collection of containers, soils and amendments and garden equipment.

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Pippi + Lola

Long Beach Plant Shop

Populated with wreaths, one-of-a-kind planters, horticulture books and, of course, plants, Pippi + Lola strives to highlight a diverse group of makers, including women and people of color. “There are all these talented women out here,” owner Dynelly del Valle says. “Why not show their work?”

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A store space with housewares and plants

Roger's Gardens

Newport Beach Plant Shop

The popular gardening and outdoors supply store has made a name for itself for its themed garden displays and elaborate holiday pop-ups. The garden center features extensive indoor and outdoor plants, drought-tolerant native plants, planters, furniture, housewares, gifts and gourmet foods.

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Rolling Greens

Culver City Drought-tolerant plants

By Lisa Boone

The garden and home design flagship in Culver City, which rests on 2 acres, offers indoor and outdoor plants, succulents, planters and home decor. Owners Greg Salmeri and Laurie Resnick travel the world to shop for home and garden goods. Customers can create their own arrangement at the store’s Arrangement Bar.

Also at 7505 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; 12833 Ventura Blvd. #145, Studio City; and Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica.

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San Gabriel Nursery & Florist

San Gabriel Valley Edibles, drought-tolerant plants

The street and parking area around San Gabriel Nursery & Florist is pretty bleak, short on greenery and heavy on traffic and blaring car alarms. But step inside the nursery and it all fades away into a fragrant oasis of color, serenity and piped-in chamber music. You can get lost just studying its many types of seeds, including Asian varieties. Customers pull red wagons laden with plants in a kind of stupor, taking in the many varieties of roses, vegetable and herb seedlings, berries and fruit trees, plus a huge selection of houseplants, garden equipment and containers, landscape trees and shrubs, perennials, annuals and drought-tolerant plants, including California natives.

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SarahCotta Plants

Glendale Plant Shop

Sarah and Tadeh Bazik stock houseplants both familiar and exotic in their Glendale boutique, as well as planters and plant-related accessories. They also have a “take-one, share-one” community board where customers can share their plant cuttings with other plant lovers. Both Armenian, the Baziks found their fluency in the language especially handy in Glendale, which has one of the largest Armenian populations outside of Armenia itself. Sarah traces her plant passion to her grandmother’s garden in Armenia. Her grandmother would lead her through herbs and hoya plants, pointing out each type and how it grew. While her mother had a black thumb, her grandmother could grow anything.

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Stuff Hollywood

Hollywood Plant Shop

Belle Dankongkakul’s artistic flair shines at Stuff, where gifts and ceramics by Los Angeles artists are elegantly displayed among a wide selection of tropical plants and succulents. There are handmade weavings and funky velour macramé planters by Dapper House Menagerie, delicate ceramics by L.A.-based Thai ceramicist Echo Azure and Concrete Geometric, affordably priced vintage clothing, candles and plant accessories — potting soil, misters, plant food and tools. Dankongkakul’s warmth and sense of humor are reflected in the products she chooses, including tiny planters dripping with sparkling disco balls, miniature grab-and-go succulents and a discounted “Sad Plants Sale.”

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Sunflower Farms

Torrance Edible, native, drought-tolerant plants

This full-service retail and wholesale nursery and landscaping business has been owned and operated by the Akiyama family since 1975 and is a lovely, restful place to wander. The nursery offers a wide selection of California native and water-wise plants, roses, vegetable seedlings, herbs, fruit and ornamental trees (including citrus), succulents and houseplants as well as sod, garden supplies, pottery and soils. The nursery also offers periodic gardening workshops and sells firewood for pickup or delivery.

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Sunset Boulevard Nursery

East Hollywood Edibles, drought-tolerant plants

Ask plant professionals for their favorite nursery and Sunset Nursery is often at the top of the list. This family-run nursery, established in 1959, has a small wedge-shaped footprint on a busy street with very limited parking, but that doesn’t keep customers away. The store is always busy, with a deep inventory of vegetable and herb seedlings, succulents, California native plants and houseplants, along with organic soils and amendments, pots and garden equipment. Note: The entrance and parking are on Fountain Avenue.

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Plants, baskets, planters and home decor inside a store.

Tansy

Burbank Plant Shop

By Lisa Boone

In addition to plants, owners Shawna Christian and Colette Fowler offer bohemian home goods with flair: colorful fair-trade garlands, plants, metal bells, mobiles, pom-poms and suncatchers. “It’s all about color and plants and fabrics,” says Christian. “I am trying to perfect the art of being insanely creative without being claustrophobic.”

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A person pulls a red cart full of green plants past a sign for the Theodore Payne Foundation.

Theodore Payne Foundation Nursery

Shadow Hills Native plants

The Theodore Payne Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to researching and preserving native plants, restoring native habitat and propagating and growing a huge selection of native shrubs, trees, wildflowers, bulbs and seeds, is the center of SoCal’s native plant universe. Visit the nursery and demonstration garden Tuesday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for inspiration, and pop into its store for collections of seeds for wildflower displays and pollinators, as well as related books, art and other items. TPF also maintains the Wild Flower Hotline, providing regular updates in the spring about the best wildflower-viewing spots, and puts on the Native Plant Garden Tour, a self-directed walking tour of more than 30 Los Angeles-area yards where at least 50% of the landscaping involves native plants.

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Trancas Canyon Nursery

Malibu Edibles, native plants

This garden center has a small footprint, but it still packs in a lot of plants, including roses, flowering perennials, succulents, vegetable and herb seedlings, native and drought-tolerant plants and houseplants, along with containers, gardening equipment and decor.

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Tree of Life Nursery

Native plants

In the late 1970s, Mike Evans started a nursery dedicated to growing and selling California native plants on 40 acres in the hills outside San Juan Capistrano. In those days, the location was remote and other nursery owners thought he was nuts — who wanted to landscape with plants many regarded as weeds? But, some 40 years later, Tree of Life Nursery is thriving when many of its competitors have closed their doors. Visit this nursery Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. just to savor the fragrant plants, marvel at the rustic buildings made from straw bales covered with adobe plaster, and browse the selection of books, gifts and an exceptional collection of containers. Just try leaving without buying at least one of the more than 500 species of California native plants — one of the largest collections in Southern California.

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