apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm guessing you meant PLANTS not PANTS. Although I do like the gardening clothes :)

Hi,

I currently bought a studio in NYC and want to convert that to a one bed by building up a wall in the material like the light box in Katherine's Starry-Eyed Triplex and with a same material sliding door that I can let the sun light goes through but still keep the privacy. Do you know where I can get this wall/partition in a good price? or smiliar materials? thanks.

Ashley

Thanks for the clarification, Michele. I didn't make the leap to "plants," myself.

I'd love to hear about alternatives to Chelsea garden center, which seems way overpriced to me.

Overstock.com was mentioned for another guide, and they also stock some nice garden supplies.

The best pants? I'd say Macy's men's department is good. Or Filene's basement. I prefer the Barney's Warehouse sale.

If you can get there, I would def say Home Depot. Chances are, unless you are a handy gardener, your kill-to-lush ration will be somewhat mullified by the cheaper prices. Pretty good selection, clueless help, but great prices and a surprisingly well stocked selection of soil, pots and hangers. Just a thought ...

Actually, Plant Shed on West 96th, between Broadway and Amsterdam has a few very knowledgeable people, in addition to a pretty good selection.

I like my local greenmarket at 77th/Columbus for small / impulse purchases. This time of year people still have lots of houseplants (including amarylises and cyclamen for the holidays), herbs (including catnip!) and some limited garden plants (mums, pansies, etc...). You don't know what you're going to get until you get there, but it's fun and cheap.

Does anyone know where to get the big, almost tree-size potted plants, like the one in Katherine's triplex?

Also recommendations for big ones that are easy to take care of, as I am a notorious plant killer and I hate to haul something big home for it to die on me.

Lee Valley Hardware is my online source for garden supplies--great stuff at affordable prices. And, I've said it before but it bears repeating, Forestfarm (www.forestfarm.com) is a fabulous online resource for plants.

The plant sales at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden are fabulous.

Smith & Hawken

Gardener's Eden

White Flower Farm (online and catalog)
http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/

And there is a botanical society location in mid-town (sort of near the Plaza) that always looks like a treasure trove, but the name escapes...

The every day plant shops at the Botanic and Botanical Gardens (Bronx and Brooklyn, respectively) are top quality, reasonable prices, and support a divine city resource.
BBG.org

The annual plant sale (first tues of May) at the BBG is off the hook.

And the city Greenmarkets. It's not too late to get a pot of sage for your growlight-enhanced kitchen window...

And there's a pretty good suburban style nursery on Ft Hamilton across the street from Greenwood Cemetary in Bklyn.

and if you're in Brooklyn

I noticed some very nice "burros tails" - which is a fab succulent - in the window of a tiny local florist by the F train in Park Slope,
*Rose Garden*
718 499 4455
455 4th Ave (10t/11th St)

right across the street from them is
*Cafe con Flores*, a street flower stall that always has beautiful stuff well beyond the rose and carnation uglies.
And great soup and tamales and agua frescas.

and
if you buy plants at Home Depot or Kmart, keep them away from your other plants for awhile -- box stores have a bad habit of selling buggy diseased plants.

Not that I haven't picked up an orchid or two at those places, because I have!

If in the wilds of New Jersey, Great Swamp Nursery...

An amazing array of seasonal plants. And nice helpful football player-type fellows to help you load the SUV...

Check out yardiac.com for all kinds of things plant and garden related. It's the largest site of its kind that I have seen.

To satisfy a hankering for the rare and exotic try Top Tropicals.
http://www.toptropicals.com/

Big selection of unusual plants, plus lots of information about care and feeding. They ship all over.

Anywhere in manhattan or brooklyn that sells cacti?

White flower farm is the old stand-by. I also like Smith and Hawken for gardening tools (expensive, though).

In Seattle:

Wells Medina Nursery is great. Heronswood Nursery is across the sound, sells online, and has spectacular grounds (only open to the public a few times a year, I think). They carry a good selection of unusual/rare plants.

ryan
cacti is something they have at the brooklyn botanic garden year-round. nothing enormous tho.
try the plant district if you're looking for anything over 2' tall.
bbg.org

and one more for the list - Ikea
plants are totally in the Home Depot/Kmart category in terms of quality
but
if the shipment is new, you're in luck

Union Square Greenmarket

Plantworks on E. 4th/Bowery

Chelsea Market

around the flower district, W. 28th St.

various plant shops in Chinatown

In Brooklyn, Gowanus Nursery, on 3rd St. b/w Hoyt and Bond is fantastic. For online shopping I like Bluestone Perennials http://www.bluestoneperennials.com

For plants, the plant district on 28th between 7th and 8th is the best. Great selections (tropicals, succulents, cacti) and great prices. I pay less there for good bromeliads, etc. than anywhere else.

For pots, go to Jamali Gardens also on 28th street. Gorgeous pots, plants, and vases like you see in pottery barn, etc., but for much cheaper.

I adore the gowanus nursery.

They had an amazing selection of spring heartbreakers--white trillium, forget-me-nots, lady-slippers. But also carry really hardy sedum and cactus, sturdy perennials, and good potting soil.

Plus, the women who own it are great. (When I told them I had white flies, they asked what I did about it. I told them I sprayed diluted dr. bronner's, and they literally clapped me on the back and said, "Good girl!")

I'm a White Flower Farm fan as well. Great catalog and online for those not willing/able to make a trip to CT.

I've had good luck with tall houseplants from local streetfairs, and I'd definitely recommend greenmarkets (particularly the one at 66th and Columbus) for herbs and flowering plants.

Re: Cacti

Ryan,

Academy Floral at Broadway & 107th seems to have lots of cacti in their windows. I've bought some little starter plants from them.

I usually shop there, or at the Plant Shed.

Has anyone grown grass in an apartment? No, not "wacky weed," and not schmancy ornamental grass, but just a regular lawn mix of grasses. I just want some grass in some window boxes, so I don't want to have to buy a huge bag of seed from a garden center.

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