Denver’s Best Garden Centers and Nurseries
Grow A Greener Garden
Although the climate is great for people, our city’s dry, hot summers and cold, snowy winters make it hard to find and keep plants that can survive both extremes. After seeing plants wilt in the noonday sun and shrivel in the late spring snows, it’s sometimes just best to ask the advice of an expert. Stay away from those national hardware stores, where plants are only a secondary consideration, and opt for something more local. These nurseries have the best products and the best advice, benefiting from local ownership and dedicated salespeople.
1. Urban Roots
The perfect city gardening store, Urban Roots focuses on providing plants and design options that suit limited growing space. Even the Golden Triangle location is proof of the concept: this mid-city shop is not the place to buy sprawling trees but instead to find smaller plants for the big city. Whether you’re talking about an already cozy balcony or a little yard out front, the plants at this nursery won’t grow out of control. Get plants that will fit your space and your needs, from herbs for your kitchen to decorative plants for the front patio. Accessories like cute pots and outdoor sculptures can be great as gifts or in your own designer garden.
2. City Floral Greenhouse
For nearly a century now, City Floral Greenhouse has sold shrubs, trees and flowers from its southeast location. This vast timeline of experience allows the garden store to easily suggest plants that will fare well in this climate, as well as to suggest remedies for any ailing plant which you might already own. One of City Floral’s specialties is roses, with dozens of varieties and plenty of advice on how to keep this notoriously needy plant happy and flowering.
3. The Flower Bin
It’s a bit of a drive up to Longmont, but one trip to The Flower Bin is all it will take to keep you coming back. Massive arrays of plants fill the store’s five acres of grounds inside and out, with annuals, perennials, trees, houseplants and more to fit any kind of space. Many of the plants are even grown locally at The Flower Bin’s nearby farm, which benefits both the individual plants and the environment, thanks to minimal transportation time. To improve your gardening skills, check out the center’s short spring workshops which cover a variety of common garden and lawn care issues.
4. Paulino Gardens
Located just off I-25 a few miles north of downtown, Paulino Gardens is the biggest nursery you’ll find in our city. Paulino’s aisles and shelves sag under the weight of holding everything a gardener needs, from plants to pots to gardening books. Around every corner are more unique plants, cute lawn accessories and useful supplies to make your gardening an easier job year-round. For even more help, on Saturdays there are often informative gardening classes that can help you with your biggest landscaping issues.
5. Echter’s Greenhouse & Gardens
Plants in top-notch condition crowd the rows of Echter’s Greenhouse and Gardens: quite a feat for a nursery of this size. Many hard-to-find plants are available at the greenhouse, though the price tag will reflect this rarity. If you’ve got questions on plants, old or new, hunt down the Arvada shop’s highly experienced plant doctor, who can give advice on ideal soil, watering, fertilizing, pest care and more. Also make sure you stop by the gift shop portion of the store, there are tons of beautiful and useful accessories for any gardening enthusiast.
