Where I shop for plants in north central Oklahoma.

Someone asked where I shop for plants. Ha! Where don’t I shop might be the better question. Here are my favorite places. None of them pay me to say this either.

Bustani Plant Farm is my hands-down favorite. I went on opening day, and I’m returning with my girlfriends from high school this Saturday. It’s 45 minutes from my house, but that doesn’t matter. Steve and Ruth are now even carrying a few of my favorite Proven Winners plants like Supertunia® Vista Bubblegum (best petunia ever!) and Suptertunia® Vista Silverberry. Silverberry has the same growth habit as Bubblegum and older petunia ‘Laura Bush,’ not a Proven Winners plant, but still awesome.

‘Laura Bush’ is a nice color echo for Bubblegum. Bustani is also carrying Pennisetum purpureum ‘Princess Caroline’ this year. I did my best to talk everyone I saw into it. Bustani is one of the few places you’ll find it. In my opinion, it doesn’t look great in the pot, but in the ground, wow!

Westlake Ace Hardware on Danforth and Kelly in Edmond. The store on 15th and Broadway is good too, but they don’t have the room to spread out their garden center like the Danforth store where it takes up most of the parking. You can find the coolest and oddest stuff there. Look for the butterfly garden plants in the purple pots. Some of them are awesome. Don’t buy lupines though. They don’t like our heat or soil. I noticed that the Westlake on Britton Road in Oklahoma City also has a large garden center.

Edmond hasn’t had a local nursery for years so we must search out the best box stores. Both Lowe’s stores have a lot of good plants. I tend to like the one at Covell and Kelly best only because it doesn’t get as picked over as the store on 2nd Street. I was there on Thursday, and my goodness, it was filled to the brim because they can’t sell plants with temperatures continually up and down. No one is buying. Both Lowe’s and Home Depot have several deliveries staged on the premises.

Home Depot at 59th and May Avenue in Oklahoma City. Seriously. It’s better than the Edmond store, although that one has improved. The 63rd and May store is one of the best in the region. They always have Proven Winners plants. Look for Senorita Rosalita® and Senorita Blanca® cleomes here. Yes, I write for Proven Winners, but they don’t ask me to share info about their plants on my blog. I just love the ones I’ve mentioned here. I buy them. These aren’t given to me every year.

TLC Florist and Greenhouse is better this year than last. Much, much better. More plants and more variety. It’s nice to see although I know they feel like they’re in the midst of upheaval. I’m excited about the changes. Sadly, I heard from a friend that Whispering Springs Nursery doesn’t have any plants this year. I don’t know why.

If I were lucky enough to live in Tulsa, I’d shop at Southwood Landscape and Nursery Center. Sometimes, I make a road trip with my husband or friends and still do.

There is a small garden outlet in Guthrie that is seasonal. It’s just okay, but they do carry much of what is grown at wholesale Guthrie Greenhouses so you can find the Kong series of shade coleus there. Also, Stout Greenhouse is still hanging on. Last week, I bought a few things. I love some of the plants she carries, and I found Artemisia ludoviciana ‘Silver Queen’ this spring. Silver plants are good for transitions between bright colors in the garden.

I occasionally go to Under the Sun too, but I’m very choosy about what I buy there. I think they over price their plants, but they do have a few things I want. It’s all about being strong and not succumbing to buying the first thing you see.

I haven’t been anywhere else so far this year. So, join me in buying and waiting for the cold to lift. We’re supposed to have one more cold blast Wednesday morning. Hold off on planting tropical plants, but I think perennials will be fine if they are hardened off.