There used to be several nurseries I would go to that had good selection and good prices. All of them were run by people who knew plants, all of them are now closed. It seems today that there are two options, full service nurseries that charge hefty prices and powerline nurseries. The powerline nurseries, so called because so many of them are located in the land underneath high voltage power lines, all seem to be following the same model, rip off the customer whenever possible. They routinely buy up 1 gallon stock, repot them in 5 gallon pots and charge 5 gallon prices. They rarely have known wholesale stock, it is all anonymous, marginal stock repotted on site. They have lots of 15 gallons pots but the plants are usually no more than 5 gallon, or even smaller, size. You ask them questions about cultivars and conditions and get blank stares. They seem to be run by people who could just as well be selling carpet cleaning or replacement windows instead of plants. If you can find what you are looking for you can get good deals but you really have to be careful or you'll get overpriced junk.

The one place I've found that offers quite a good selection at good prices is the Lowe's near me. I find myself going there more and more for basic landscaping plants and they frequently have a few more hard to find varieties tucked into the shelves.

Try California Nursery Specialties in Reseda. They are wholesale, but sell to the public on week-ends. Parts of their area is covered in plastic and it is extremely hot there. While in Reseda, you can visit Reseda Pottery & Fountains, which is much cooler. I got both of my back yard fountains there, as they had better prices than in the Marina, which is closer to my house.

California Nursery Specialties is pretty much just cacti and succulents iirc.

I don't know what their retail prices are like because the retail and wholesale divisions are completely separate, but Village Nurseries has a ton of stock in grow yards all over the state and their wholesale prices are generally pretty good. I buy from them all the time.

I thought I'd update about getting plants at Lowe's. I wanted to buy a few sea lavenders, limonium perezii. I went to Green Arrow Nursery in North Hills and they had about 8 one gallons. But they were quite small, they looked like they could easily be 6" pot specimens, and they were $9. Green Arrow is actually a nice nursery, they have a wide range of plants and generally reasonable prices. But the size and the price made me hesitate. Later I was at Lowe's in Pacoima and they had 1 gallon sea lavenders for $5.50. They were large, filling the pot, very healthy. I was glad I waited until I went to Lowe's.

Sperling nursery in Calabasas usually has a great selection of everything and has excellent quality. I was just there this morning, and everything is 30% off. Sadly, they are going out of business :(

I think the nursery business is like the bookstore business. A few years ago you could find dozens of them with people who truly lived and breathed books or plants. But today there are fewer and fewer that remain. And nurseries especially require land and a lot of work to keep the stock healthy. I still mourn the loss of Persson's in northeast Pasadena, great people, great selection, great prices but they're gone.

Thank you everybody. Wish me luck.

I was just at Sperling. :/ looks like they are closing very soon.. All the flowering plants, succulents, tropical are gone. They moved all the trees from the back, up to the front now. So sad...

I wouldn't buy any of the Sperling shrub/trees. The client of a colleague bought some and they were crap. They had been sitting in the pots so long the nursery tape holding the tree to the stake was almost girdling them. The roots are hopeless and now they have to replace them all.

Check out Paradise Nursery for fruit trees, mediterranean plants, and other landscape plants and installation in Souther California

quote by kentc:

" I think the nursery business is like the bookstore business. A few years ago you could find dozens of them with people who truly lived and breathed books or plants. But today there are fewer and fewer that remain "

I agree, I have seen this phenomena happening over the years too. I think what happened is the rents and cost of living went up, and many of these small business owners could not afford to stay in business any longer. Plus with the bad economy and plenty of people willing to take whatever minimum wage job they can get, the big corporate-run stores have really taken over. It's very sad because a lot of character was lost when all these small businesses shut their doors.

The economy, yes, and two words; Home Depot and Lowe's.

Very few independent nurseries can compete on prices. Knowledge, plant variety and often quality will be much better at an independent nursery, but most people shop by price, so that's how it goes.

We'll end up and are pretty much there now, with plants that are all the same, cheap but boring. All the boxwood and impatiens you want.

The biggest problem independent retail nurseries in CA face is crappy plant stock. They buy trees and shrubs in containers from wholesalers in order to stock their shop and then if no one buys it that first season the plant just sits there getting more and more root bound. By the time it finally does get sold the root ball is a giant knot that has to be cut away in order for the tree to make it. No wonder they have to offer free replacement. They should really just be plant brokers from wholesalers, but people don't shop for plants that way.

Yes, often times plant buying for the general public is an impulse buy. In fact many people will not even buy an ornamental plant unless it already has flowers on it.

Nil13, that can be a problem and too often it is. But a good independent will not let that happen. A well run nursery will discount plants as they get older to clear out stock. Some wholesalers will take back old stock at a partial refund also, though fewer are doing that these days.

If we only have the big box stores, a lot of the independent wholesalers will go under also, and many, many have already. That's why you will only see the same ol' same ol' at the big box stores. They will only buy from the huge wholesalers who will get them the lowest price. They can do that because they sell only what most people know and buy. It's a feed back thing that gets you cheaper plants but nothing new or interesting.

Did you know that the big box stores don't even buy a plant from the wholesaler until it goes through the check out. Once it's rung up, then they pay the wholesaler. All the plants on the shelves are the property of the wholesaler until it's bought. That's why the employees at those stores don't care. If the plants die the wholesaler takes the loss. And so they will not gamble on a plant that's not well known to the public.

A small wholesaler who specializes in unusual plants cannot afford to sell in that system. And so many have gone out of business and many more will. The independent nursery is usually the only ones who support interesting and unusual wholesale plant growers.

So actually the big box stores are doing exactly what you wish for; they are merely brokers for the large wholesale growers. And that business model is great for the stores and the wholesaler, but because of the gamble part you won't get unusual plants nor will you get larger specimens. You get what average Joe. Q. Public will buy.

Shhhh, I actively seek out and buy those overgrown, hidden in the back, pot bound oddities! Well, not because they are overgrown. I snap them up and thank the lucky stars and the nursery, because they even have the plant for sale! I would have preferred to find them in prime condition, but I know that ugly singleton has been tucked in the back for a long, long time, and that is the only reason it is still there for me to pick up. Having plant id skills is invaluable, because the label and price are often long gone.

Just last week I happily snagged these two 1 gal. Calothamnus villosus for $10 each. The one gal. lets-try-it I bought 3-4 years ago is now a beautiful 9' shrub, and I lamented not buying more then, since I had not seen them offered since. Then I dug up these two ugly ducklings at Armstrong, and was thrilled just to find them.

Oh, and that backdrop tree is another prize find: an overgrown, deciduous Betula nigra 'Summer Cascade' @ 70% off clearance. I love that thing! Another that hasn't been seen for sale since.

So I lean towards hoping the nurseries that dare to carry the less common species, continue with their lax, irresponsible ways. How else will i find my plants? ;-)

Barb, the big box stores are more like clearinghouses not brokers. There actually are plant brokers out there and architects work with them quite a bit. You give them a plant list and they track down the plants. It works great and the plants don't even have to be the usual suspects. I have a whole bunch of different wholesale growers that we source from and we rarely use anything that you would ever find in a big box store. The best part about it is that they are hardly ever pot bound and if they are it's just barely and only at the end of the season. Whenever I go to retail nurseries, even the so called good ones, the plants look awful compared to what we get from the wholesalers. I rarely find odd plants at retailers unless it is a specialist like California Cactus Center.

Well that's sad. Part of the issue I think. All independents are struggling these days. I guess some of them are just trying to hold down expenses by keeping stock around too long. It works against them in the long run, but I guess if the wolf is at the door, one does what one has to.

Seems like the Plant Broker is the only way independent growers are going to be able to hang on now. So cool, interesting plants will be available to those with lots of disposable income. And everyone else gets big box store plants. The future is now. Sad.

I am fortunate that The Plant Depot and a Green Thumb nursery are both nearby. Both have a broad selection and most of the plants have a decent turnover rate. The prices are realistic overall. Sadly, the Depot's coupons went bye-bye, but my business with both is regular and the customer numbers appear to remain good. It would be a real shame for them to fold.

I use Classic Nursery (under the power lines) near Sun Valley. Gerardo is the owner/manager and he's extremely knowledgeable and helpful about plants. I usually try to order at least $250 worth of plants from him, to get the best deals, and $850 or more gets you a free delivery (at least to the Hollywood Hills area). Everything I have bought from him has thrived, and I am super grateful for his design advice, as well. I usually go in with a laundry list, pictures on my iPad of the area I'm working with, and/or plants I've seen that I like. I always make an appointment first to let him know I'm coming. Then we sit down in his office, flush out the whole list, and he gets to work on ordering the plants. Sometimes it takes a while, because he's busy, but patience and gentle reminders win in the end.

For difficult-to-find drought resistant plants, I've found the San Gabriel Nursery is an excellent source. Again, if you order a lot, particularly of one plant, and tell them you're a landscape designer, they'll give you a good deal.

The secret is getting to know your nursery contacts and ordering quantity. At least that's what I've found.

I don't see it as that dire of a situation. It's easier than ever to find atypical plants. People don't have to rely on their local retail nursery for that access to information. It's all available online especially seed.

These deficiencies could point to a way forward. How great would it be if botanical gardens were plant brokers? You could have QRCode signs on plantings that could add the plants to a shopping cart and then you arrange for delivery or will call. Instead of a few giant botanical gardens you might see more small specialized ones. The reality is that there are problems with the current container plant market that selects for a certain set of plants.

Well, you are certainly correct that the current system of getting plant to people via the retail garden center or nursery is not the best way, especially now. It really doesn't make a lot of sense environmentally to grow plants 300 miles or more away from the retailer and truck them by diesel trucks to market, which is how most plants are marketed, at least in a lot of CA.

I hope you're right, that would be great. That would be a whole new world of plant growers, sellers and buyers. :)

Btw, as a disclaimer, I should let you know I've worked in the retail plant business on and off for 30 years, so much has changed and yet so much has not.

I'm guessing one of the things that hasn't changed is people mainly buying plants in bloom. lol.

Oh yeah. If it isn't blooming they won't buy it. Could be a 6-pack so root bound and heavy with flowers that it keeps falling over, but it will sell. It's also when they will find the plant for sale. Come in September looking for forsythia? Good luck, they were available in April. All 6 of them.

Over 30 years ago when I first started the nurseries tried a campaign to encourage people to plant in the fall. "Fall Is For Planting!" posters were put up everywhere.

It's the best time to plant in CA except for tropicals. The weather is starting to cool down but it's still warm. You usually only have to water until the rain starts. The plants have a long cool wet winter (well, most winters, lol) for the roots to grow well and get established before the heat of summer.

Well, it was a total failure. Most people, being from somewhere else, just couldn't wrap their head around the idea of fall planting. Plus most of the plants were NOT in bloom. Even with pretty pictures of the flowers on the tags, just couldn't imagine the flowers.

They'd rather buy them in May when they're blooming so pretty, stick them in the ground, forget to water them in June, cause it was just raining wasn't it? Then wonder why they were dead in 95*+ July. Heh heh, I'm not cynical after all these years, am I?

So true, BarbJP! They think if they plant it now, there is too much time before the visual payoff, whether it be flowers or just spending time in the garden to enjoy the plant, that they will surely kill it before the return on investment so many months away. Plus, with only a few exceptions, deciduous plants need not even apply for a job in the mild winter areas of SoCal. It does not help that fall is the hectic adjustment period with the days getting shorter, schools getting back in session, and changing schedules. It takes a month, or longer, for families to get into the new rhythm---just in time to focus on the holidays.

Bidscape is a great place to get plants and trees, especially hedge material. I'm guessing this is what you want for some privacy on that corner lot! Here's the link: Bidscape - Plants and Trees in SoCal

If you're willing to drive down just a bit past OC, there's an Evergreen Nursery in Oceanside which is really only about 20 minutes from the OC border. I've never been to that specific location, but I go to their Carmel Valley location frequently and they supposedly offer wholesale pricing for their broad selection of plants and trees. All the plants at their CV store are grown on-site, so it's acres and acres of plants where you actually drive around, load the pots up into your car and then pop the trunk open for the checkout staff to add it all up at the exit. Their plants aren't always the prettiest for some reason, but they have all their prices online which makes it really easy to shop around. We've done quite a bit of shopping there when we had large areas to plant, when paying even Home Depot/Lowe's prices could have been more than we were willing to spend. If there's something specific that you're looking for, give them a call and they can tell you if they have it in stock... and again all the prices for the various sizes are on their site so you won't have to risk sticker shock after making the drive. Hope this helps!

I just re-landscaped by front yard with California native plants and found the staff and plant selection at the Theodore Payne Foundation to be helpful. They helped me pick plants based on soil type (clay, sand, etc) and amount of sun. There were more native varieties than Home Depot and Lowe's, but the plant sizes are small. I had to be patient in purchasing small plants and helping them grow.

I'm sad that Sperling closed. I got a lot of shrubs, flowers and herbs there. Always found good quality. Also closed for a couple years now is a nursery on Tierra Rejada in Moorpark across from the giant one that's still there (Enchanted Gardens?) They always had interesting plants and would often throw a free one or two in with your order. The big nursery that's still there has LOTS of plants, not always in great shape, and you have to wait a while for a worker to be available because all of the gardeners/landscapers go there. Then you have to get on a golf cart to find the plant you're looking for--not practical for browsing.

There's a small one just off the freeway in Agoura, but the owner isn't very friendly and always seems bothered when I ask if he has a certain plant, even when there are no other customers. I don't go there anymore.

The one off the 101 at Santa Rosa (?) seems okay. I've only been there once.

I realize I'm talking about Ventura County nurseries and the OP wanted LA/OC, but that's all I'm familiar with...

Final word--I got 2 sad, spindly, neglected twigs with a tag that said pomegranate from Vons for 1.99 each, and they are my most productive plants!