(VISBII / For The Times)
28 of the coolest plant shops you can find only in L.A.
From longtime family-run plant stores such as Mickey Hargitay Plants and Sunset Nursery to more recent startups including Latinx With Plants and Tansy, plant stores capture the essence of L.A. — a surprising, welcoming, multicultural mix that imbues every neighborhood in the city with goodwill.
The latest shops offer fresh takes on traditional nurseries, such as the restaurant Yuko’s Kitchen and Lost Books, the used book store in Montrose where you enter through a magical tunnel of live plants and can shop for fiddle-leaf figs alongside copies of “All Quiet on the Western Front” and the bestselling cookbook “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.”
Here is a look at a few of our favorites. Did we miss your preferred place to shop for houseplants? Email me at Lisa.Boone@LATimes.com and I will check them out.
If you’re looking to find out more about houseplants, visit our guide to indoor plants.
For more Los Angeles plant coverage, including our Plant PPL series, read our stories on latimesplants.
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Showing Places
(Jeanette Marantos / Los Angeles Times)
Artemisia Nursery
El Sereno Plant Shop
This compact, mostly outside nursery in Northeast Los Angeles specializes in California native plants but also sells a selection of vegetable seedlings, herbs, succulents and houseplants. It’s located in a heavily industrial area, between a tire store and an auto repair shop, and parking out front is full of camper-type vehicles that look like they haven’t moved in a while, but there is usually plenty of parking across the street, and Artemisia is definitely worth a visit. Look for its distinctive salmon-pink building, where you’ll also find gardening supplies and a small but interesting collection of pots. The day I went it was pouring rain, but the canopies allowed me to shop without getting too wet, and they provide welcome shade in the summer. This nursery is small, but it packs in a lot of diverse choices (such as five varieties of ceanothus during my soggy visit) with a helpful and knowledgeable staff.
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(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Avalon Nursery & Ceramics
South Park Plant Shop
South Los Angeles’ only enduring nursery feels more like a botanic garden than a thriving business on a busy corner. In addition to trees, shrubs and colorful ceramics, the nursery features a “green room,” where most of the houseplants reside.
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(Nayeli Huerta / For The Times)
EnCactusar
Boyle Heights Plant Shop
The COVID-19 pandemic gave artists Jackie Amezquita and Julio Toruno the opportunity to turn their hobby into their own nursery, a small business at their Boyle Heights home. Toruno makes arrangements with cactuses, and they both make ceramic plant pots. Open Saturdays and Sundays only. DM them on Instagram to make an appointment: instagram.com/encactusar/
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(Fig Earth Supply)
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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(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Frida Pickles
East San Gabriel Plant Shop
This San Gabriel plant shop and florist offers a variety of orchids, houseplants, succulents, and air plants. Owners Susan and Juan Sanchez have formed a for-profit LLC with a mission to hire and train adults with special needs.
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(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
The Green Place
Fullerton Plant Shop
Jennifer Aragon’s plant shop is thriving with heart-shaped caladiums, tropical marantas and soft-pink syngoniums. Her downtown Fullerton shop opened in August 2020, and everything in it has a story. Take the rusted Brachiosaurus sunbathing on the front table: Cactus Mart wasn’t selling it but Aragon managed to buy it anyhow. And the hand-painted walls by local muralist Carla Roque, who splashed white-outlined leaves on sleek black paint after seeing Aragon’s reference sketches. Between local artwork, partnerships with other city vendors and Aragon managing the front desk, the store is a love letter to Fullerton.
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(Pilar Valtierra)
Greenwood Shop
Studio City Gift Store
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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(Allen Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Houseplant Nation
Huntington Beach Plant Shop
This family-run store in Huntington Beach started as a water shop that sold rare plants (variegated Monstera ‘Albo,’ anthuriums, Epipremnum ‘Albo,’ Syngonium ‘Albo’ and rex begonias). Owners Tammy and Joe Ha recently opened a second store in Garden Grove, 9757 Garden Grove Blvd., No. 9, which features a stunning aroid living wall. The couple also sell handmade, local macramé and pottery and host occasional workshops. “I feel like everybody has a job,” Tammy says. “And my job is to bring people relief to even out all of the negativity. I do this because I love it.”
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(Lisa Boone/Los Angeles Times )
In Blume
Burbank Plant Shop
Jimmy Hartman’s full-service florist offers fresh flowers, handmade bouquets and houseplants from small Chinese Money plants to impressive staghorn ferns.
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(Jackalope Pottery)
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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(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
The Juicy Leaf
Glassell Park Plant Shop
Houseplants, succulents, cactuses, tillandsia, designer terrariums, planters and macramé hangers — you can find them all here. You can also create your own arrangement or attend one of owner Felix Navarro’s weekly live workshops hosted on Instagram (items are delivered to your door or you can pick them up at the store).
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(La Belle Plant Nursery)
La Belle Plant Nursery
Santa Monica Plant Shop
This nursery features a wide variety of indoor plants, including cactuses, succulents and air plants; decorative containers in Italian terra cotta and Mexican red clay; as well as Chinese ceramics and glazed ceramic cylinders.
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(Lisa Boone/Los Angeles Times )
Latinx With Plants
Boyle Heights Plant Shop
Inspired by D’Real Graham’s Black With Plants, Latinx With Plants founder Andi Xoch started weekend pop-up events as a way to highlight people of color in the plant world. Her pop ups were so popular, she eventually opened the Latinx With Plants store on César Chávez Boulevard. Xoch says she believes a plant shop in her community can provide a sense of comfort during an unsettling time.
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(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
Leaf and Spine
Highland Park Plant Shop
This tiny store specializes in plants that are hard to find. “We wanted to form a specialty in plants that are really unique,” says owner Dustin Bulaon, who is a collector. Keep an eye out for rare plant sales, which Bulaon announces on the store’s Instagram.
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(Lisa Boone / Los Angeles Times)
Lost Books
La Crescenta-Montrose Plant Shop
Walk into Lost Books in Montrose, and you’ll be greeted by an amazingly verdant and jam-packed plant tunnel installed by Yuko Watanabe of Yuko’s Kitchen. (She pivoted to selling plants in her restaurant during the pandemic.) With custom bookshelves dotted with calathea, fiddle-leaf figs, pothos and dracaena and a ceiling covered with dried reindeer moss, the used bookstore has the feel of a miniature, magical literary jungle.
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(Mickey Hargitay Plants)
Mickey Hargitay Plants
Hollywood Plant Shop
Mickey Hargitay’s nursery has been a Hollywood fixture for more than 30 years and is the kind of place where staffers will carry your Monstera deliciosa out to your car for you while offering care tips. “We have done our best to keep some of the hard to get plants such as Monstera adansonii, Rhaphidophora tetrasperma, string of hearts, various varieties of hoya, Peperomia polybotrya, many varieties of calathea,” says Hargitay. Potting services are generally free, depending on the plant’s size.
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(Plant Material)
Plant Material
Eagle Rock Plant Shop
Terremoto landscape architect David Godshall, who co-founded Plant Material with business partner Matt Burrows, likens the nursery’s aesthetic and spirit to “a punk rock plant shop.” Find indoor and outdoor plants, natives and gardening accessories here. Also at 3024 La Paz Drive in Silver Lake. (323) 486-7072.
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(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Plantiitas
Long Beach Plant Shop
Kevin Alcaraz and Anthony Diaz’s spacious shop features tropical houseplants, stylish planters and hand-crafted goods.
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(Sadie Gilliam)
Pour Vida Art & Plant House
Venice Plant Shop
Sadie Gilliam’s Venice boutique offers plants, plant-related gifts and locally made products including crystals, cards, jewelry, candles and fresh floral-and-sage smudge sticks. Check the online calendar for artisanal classes curated by Denise Ambrosi of These Hands Maker’s Collective as well as a mobile plant shop.
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(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Prop House Plants
San Pedro Plant Shop
Running a business as siblings, Jose and Brittany Montero say, is both a joy and a challenge. Brittany said there are times when they butt heads, but she credits their open communication as the driving force behind their ability to address challenges and move past them. She said she loves working with her brother and seeing their dream of running their own business become a reality.
Their 300-square-foot store is small but mighty, with greenery inhabiting nearly every inch from floor to ceiling. Dozens of succulents hang from wooden shelves around the room, and colorful pots scavenged from estate and yard sales line the floor. Quirky details like an old CRT television, a vintage yellow telephone and an unassuming plant with a name tag reading “Frank” give the shop character.
Prop House specializes in beginner-friendly, low-maintenance plants like snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata), pothos and Zanzibar gem (a.k.a. ZZ plant). Brittany and Jose said their mission is to teach people how to care for their plants and show them that plant ownership is not as intimidating as it might seem.
Their 300-square-foot store is small but mighty, with greenery inhabiting nearly every inch from floor to ceiling. Dozens of succulents hang from wooden shelves around the room, and colorful pots scavenged from estate and yard sales line the floor. Quirky details like an old CRT television, a vintage yellow telephone and an unassuming plant with a name tag reading “Frank” give the shop character.
Prop House specializes in beginner-friendly, low-maintenance plants like snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata), pothos and Zanzibar gem (a.k.a. ZZ plant). Brittany and Jose said their mission is to teach people how to care for their plants and show them that plant ownership is not as intimidating as it might seem.
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(Roger’s Gardens)
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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(Lisa Boone / Los Angeles Times)
Rolling Greens
Culver City Drought-tolerant plants
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.
Also at 7505 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; 12833 Ventura Blvd. #145, Studio City; and Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica.
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(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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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(Lisa Boone / Los Angeles Times)
Sunset Nursery
Silver Lake Plant Shop
This longtime family-run nursery features houseplants, succulents, California natives, edible plants. and pots.
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(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
Tansy
Burbank Plant Shop
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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(Lisa Boone / Los Angeles Times)
The Tropics
Hollywood Plant Shop
Since opening at the Hollywood swap meet in 1972, the Tropics has grown to a 20,000-square-foot showroom featuring thousands of tropical plants, trees, orchids and decorative accessories. Owner Ryan Hroziencik offers plants for both home and business staging, including real estate and film projects, and the showroom serves as a location itself. It’s a fun place to look at plants but can be frustrating too. There are no price tags, and admission is by appointment only.
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(Sarah Zing)
Wildflora
Studio City Plant Shop
This full-service florist shop offers houseplants, succulents and tillandsia and aeriums, along with home decor such as pillows and candles. You can also build your own gift box from a wide assortment of products including candles, candies, books and floral arrangements.
There is also a location at the Original Farmers Market, 6333 W. 3rd St. Stall No. 708.
There is also a location at the Original Farmers Market, 6333 W. 3rd St. Stall No. 708.
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(Mariah Tauger/Los Angeles Times)
Yuko Kitchen
Downtown L.A. Plant Shop
During the height of the pandemic, Yuko Watanabe started selling plants at all three of her Japanese restaurants to make ends meet. Now, people come from all over L.A. to dine in her greenery-filled restaurants and shop for plants. There is a second location at 5484 Wilshire Blvd. in Mid-City.
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