Did you, like many, become houseplant-obsessed during the pandemic? Or did you develop (or hone) a green thumb and now gardening has become a newfound passion? If so, you’ll love these plant and garden businesses in and around Boulder. Here’s five Boulder County places for serious plant lovers:
Sturz & Copeland
Step foot into the lush greenhouse at Sturtz & Copeland and you’ll feel as though you’re in a botanical garden. While there’s no admission fee to this plant lover’s paradise, you’ll be hard-pressed to leave without finding a new plant baby, or three, to take home). The greenhouse is filled with lush plants, plus water features and a playful drawbridge that crosses over a babbling brook.
If you’ve been trying to hunt down a rare plant you saw on Instagram because you follow the hashtag #plantshelfie, this is the place in Boulder you’re most likely to find it. Plus, staff members will be eager to share with you their best care tips, too. In addition to houseplants by the dozens, you can also buy seeds, outdoor plants, bouquets of expertly arranged flowers and on-trend home decor here.
Sturtz & Copeland, sturtzandcopeland.com, 2851 Valmont Road in Boulder
Terracotta
Amid the pandemic, Eben Metivier and his partner Adria Buonocore began selling houseplants from a stand outside their Boulder home. Their business, like a well-tended fiddle leaf fig, grew and grew and, in December, they opened Terracotta. The well-curated plant shop with an elixir bar is now located on the east end of Pearl Street.
Your first order of business: Pose for a picture on the immaculately carved wooden bench, with a stack of plant books, in front of the lush wall. (BTW, you can commission the shop to make you your very own plant wall that’s rigged with an irrigation system). The shop’s knowledgeable staff can point you to houseplants that are the best fit for you, from those that are easy-breezy care wise to others that require some extra TLC. Terracotta also sells plant accessories to help you nail the plant parent aesthetic, from gorgeous woven baskets to ceramics from Hammerly Ceramics, a Broomfield maker.
As members of the 1% for the Planet initiative, Terracotta also pledges to donate 1% of its sales to Cool Earth, a nonprofit working alongside rainforest communities to halt deforestation practices that accelerate climate change.
Terracotta, topterracotta.com, 2005 Pearl St. in Boulder
Harlequin’s Gardens and Nursery
Follow the dirt road to this natural and sustainable gardening institution. You know you’ve arrived when you spot the quippy “Microbe Brewery: Compost Tea” banner. Harlequin’s specializes in native plants, organic vegetable and herb starters, xeriscape, hardy roses and Colorado-adapted and unusual perennials.
The family-owned business that’s been around for a quarter of a century also sells fruit trees, berry bushes, groundcovers, hardy cacti, seeds and beekeeping supplies. All of the plants here are organically grown, and they’re free of bee-killing neonicotinoids and other pesticides. Harlequin’s also offers a slate of classes, including how to grow mushrooms on logs and stumps and how to get started with vegetable gardening.
Harlequin’s Gardens and Nursery, harlequinsgardens.com, 4795 North 26th St. in Boulder
The Flower Bin Garden Center and Nursery
A favorite for Colorado gardeners, The Flower Bin has been in business for more than five decades. The Longmont garden center and nursery is set on 5 acres, with an impressive 80,000 square feet of indoor growing space, plus a 20-acre farm in Platteville.
Take a stroll through the greenhouse, which has an impressive rose collection. From aloe to zygo, The Flower Bin also has an array of houseplants and decorative pots and baskets. You can also find seeds from locally owned companies at this garden center.
The Flower Bin Garden Center and Nursery, theflowerbin.net, 1805 Nelson Road in Longmont
Plants Y’all
In addition to the shops that have made our list, we also want to introduce you to a cool concierge service for plant lovers. Have you ever seen a home in a design magazine and swooned over the collection of plants in a living room? Or have you been to a boutique hotel that has the best plants throughout the property?
Enter: Plants Y’all, a plant stylist company that can help you install a self-irrigating plant wall or help you arrange plants that will thrive in sunny (and shady) places in your home. The Boulder-based business consults, styles and installs plant designs for homes as well as offices, restaurants and hotels.
Plants Y’all, plantsyall.com
One Response
You left out Urban Garden in Louisville! They play cool jazz music… like going to a jazz club for plants. 🙂 I find things there that other places don’t carry.