Nurseries are my pleasure zone.
I love visiting a good nursery, finding new plants, coming across fresh ideas, absorbing that pearl of wisdom from a fellow gardener or staff member that makes my gardening life sweeter. Are you in Asheville and thinking ‘where can I find a plant stores or nursery near me?’. These are the nurseries in our area that are proven winners for the best garden centers.
Most nurseries cover a general swath of customer needs, but each has its own special flavor and character. Here are my favorite nurseries, plant stores and garden shops in Asheville, detailing why I go and what I tend to buy there.
So, if you are looking for well-priced nurseries near you, places for great deals, or a nursery with staff that are actually gardeners, here’s the scoop!
My 7 Favorite Nurseries, Garden & Plant Shops in Asheville:
Best Asheville Nurseries for Our Garden
1. Reems Creek Nursery
- Quality inventory
- Excellent warranty on large items
- Knowledgeable & efficient
- In Weaverville just North of Asheville
- 76 Monticello Road, Weaverville | Google Map Link | (828) 645-3937
I love Reems Creek! I frequent this nursery throughout the year to find new perennials for my spring-summer-fall garden and to buy my seasonal annuals. Their fall & winter pansy selection is marvelous in both quality and variety.
I’ve also collected most of my fruit trees and shrubs from Reems Creek because their warranty is excellent; most larger plants come with a lifetime guarantee (along with a little complimentary baggie of fertilizer!)
I recently brought back a Dwarf Umbrella Pine which was killed off by frost this past winter. Reems Creek honored their guarantee with good cheer (“Yeah, it happened to a lot of evergreens in that big frost a few weeks ago!”) and allowed me to choose a replacement in the same price range – no fuss, no muss.
Dwarf Umbrella Pines from Reems Creek Nursery in Asheville
Reems Creek is a well-rounded nursery: smartly organized, fully stocked, friendly, and efficient. The scale is good; Reems Creek feels personal and plant-focused.
I find it soothing to stroll the grounds of Reems Creek, with colorful annuals, herbs, and veggie starts as you enter, on to the shade and sun perennial tents, a shrub and maple tent, and toward the back a wide selection of trees, azaleas, rhodos and evergreens.
There’s a fruit-focused area with berry bushes and fruit trees, while indoor plants and summer annuals abound in a large tent that’s perfectly humid. They even have a special area for aquatic plant enthusiasts!
There’s a retail shop with assorted delights for gardeners, from seeds to bulbs to prettily-decorated dishcloths; even a section of nature-themed toys for tots!
🌳 Read My Tips for Shopping at Reems Creek 🪴
Tip: you can pick up your compost and soil amendments at the big shed around the bend on the way out. It’s not on the main plant area so you can miss it, but is perfect for loading the car. Just let them know what you need when you check out.
Above all, it’s a quality thing with Reems Creek. I always know I’m going to get healthy, well-maintained plants at competitive prices, along with any advice I need about how to support their growth.
And I’m not the only fan: Reems Creek Nursery has been voted #1 in the WNC MountainX Awards for 8 years running!
2. Jesse Israel & Sons
- Excellent veggie starts
- Large gardening inventory
- Wide selection of shrubs
- 570 Brevard Road to State Road 3600 | Google Map Link | (828) 254-2671
Jesse Israel is a solid nursery with over 50 years of experience. I find this nursery practical, forthright, and easy to visit; a place where you can find what you need.
I buy veggie starts here – whatever I haven’t grown from seed that year – because the selection and stock are the best I’ve found locally. I also buy my overwintering seeds here, such as red, white & crimson clover.
This nursery has a particularly wide selection of shrubs and trees at varying stages of growth. When I have my heart set on a certain type of shrub but want to find a more mature specimen, Jesse Israel usually has what I’m looking for.
The shop contains a huge array of gardening supplies; everything from garden statuary to seeds and bulbs, gardening tools, and anything you might need for container and aquatic gardening, plus compost and soil amendments.
They also have a good selection of indoor plants and annuals on display in their big tent to the left as you enter. I find their prices to be competitive in general.
Other advantages to this nursery: they’re open from Mon-Sun from 8-5pm.
Must do -> They are located right next to the WNC Farmers Market! That means you can pick up a bushel of tomatoes, corn, or peaches at a great price any day of the summer (not to mention your Christmas tree in winter!)
3. Painters Greenhouse (a great plant nursery)
- Huge range of plants & starts
- Great prices
- Knowledgeable & relaxed
- 734 Roy Moore Rd, Old Fort | Google Map Link | (828) 668-7225
- Seasonal Hours – so do call ahead! They will answer off season.
- Open generally: March 6 through end of June, Open fall season 5-6 weeks in September-October.
For the best prices and a huge diversity of stock, I’ll make the 45-minute trek in season from Asheville to Old Fort, NC past Black Mountain to visit Painters Greenhouse.
Painters Greenhouse is a locally owned wonderland of well-priced plant starts, which can be up to 50% less than what you’d pay at Asheville nurseries. Part of how they keep prices down is they are only open to retail in the season those plants are ready to sell. When you’re considering a landscaping project, you’ll want to check out this resource outside of Asheville.
Painters Greenhouse goes beyond most garden centers in offering an excellent selection of native perennials, veggies & herb starts for your home farm, plus trees and shrubs, and a huge selection of indoor plants as well as beautifully-designed decorative containers.
When I first started planting my newly hard-scaped backyard, I was introduced to Painters Greenhouse by a professional landscaper neighbor who plants only natives in her garden. With her guidance, I purchased a huge array of plants, mostly very young, and squeezed them into the trunks of our cars.
These babies populated my entire garden for about $250, which seemed like a fortune to me then (I know better now 🙂
Most of those early starts are still going strong in my garden, including a flaming red hibiscus that pops up every summer to over 8 feet tall, lending my garden a tropical luster. A good investment, indeed.
For buying in bulk, I highly recommend Painters Greenhouse. Remember to bring a bottle of water, a sun hat, and a friend’s truck; you’ll need the room.
Prepare to be amazed by the array of botanical offerings for your home garden & farm.
Both the choices and prices are impressive at Painters Greenhouse, not to mention the 45-minute drive from Asheville is beautiful!
4. Sow True Seed
Sow True Seed’s original art packet is in the middle!
Sow True Seed is a local seed shop that Asheville’s lucky to count as its own.
- Open-Pollinated & Heritage seeds
- Bulk & special-order seeds & bulbs
- Charming shop & knowledgeable staff
- 243 Haywood St | Google Map Link | (828) 254 0708
I shop at Sow True Seed for seeds, bulbs, and bare roots. I also come for stunning gift seed packets to lure friends and fellow travelers into the garden.
Seriously, this is a shop where you’ll feel better educated simply by walking in the door! You can feel the idealism, community and generational wisdom in every part of this business, created and maintained by women who care about sustainability.
Sow Ture Seed’s mission statement says it all:
“We are a small, dedicated employee-owned cooperative committed to making gardening approachable for everyone. We provide high-quality, open-pollinated seeds in support of sustainable food production and regenerative agriculture. We strive to help our customers cultivate a sense of empowerment and connection in an era of disengagement from nature, food, and community.”
5. Rose’s Garden Shop
- Unique curation
- Kind & knowledgeable staff
- Perfect place to find a gift
- 211 Charlotte St. | Google Map Link | (828) 252 2100
Rose’s Garden Shop is filled with a comforting feeling of plant adoration, floating like a scent in the air. Rose’s is a shop for browsing, delighting in the senses, and chancing upon the perfect gem of a plant. This is not a big box garden center!
As you enter the gate, a small village of statuary adorns a stairway to a beautiful old house; inside are vintage pots, charming tchotchkes, and a lovingly-curated, sophisticated array of indoor plants.
As the season warms, the entryway fills up with colorful herbs, annuals, and perennials for the outdoor garden. At Rose’s, I learn just by looking around, absorbing the taste and intelligence of the owner’s instincts.
The prices are also fine at Rose’s, reflecting the quality and care the plants receive. The staff is kind and full of plant wisdom. Rose’s is a gem of a local shop.
6. Thyme in the Garden
- Feels like a “secret garden”
- Charming indoor gift shop
- Nice selection of pots & plants
- Garden shop, not a nursery or garden center
- 190 Weaverville Rd. | Google Map Link | (828) 658 3700
The first time I stumbled across Thyme in the Garden, I felt as if I’d entered someone’s secret garden.
It was clearly a garden shop. There was a big assemblage of ceramic pots and a mish-mosh of potted plants just down the winding driveway in which I’d parked.
But then I wandered across a little bridge and happened upon a wonderfully-disheveled garden packed with summer flowers and a winding path leading to a bench beneath a trellis of clematis. It felt so private and delightful; I thought out loud, “What is this place?!”
Thyme in the Garden is the kind of shop I’ll stop into hoping to discover an unexpected gem of a plant or a big beauty of a pot. Or to find a botanically-themed gift for someone special.
It’s a charmingly local place run by people who adore plants. What more is there?
7. B.B. Barnes Garden Centers
- Wide range of general stock
- Big selection of annuals
- Offers landscaping services
- 3377 Sweeten Creek Rd, Arden | Google Map Link | (828) 650 7300
Some locals swear by B.B. Barnes; which is a regional chain of nurseries with a locations south of Asheville in Arden, NC, and Northeast Columbia and Irmo, SC. I think of it more as a garden center, than a true nursery. B.B. Barnes is a large retail business with a wide array of plant and gardening stock. I list it because it might be the closest option for you.
The plant care here is of higher quality than in a big box store, and the selection is far more diverse. I’ve only been to this nursery once; I found it well-stocked and large, but a bit less personal than my favorites above. You might get care guides with your plants, but not a seasoned local pro to talk to.
Examples of fresh combinations in nursery plantings
Plant Nurseries in Asheville North Carolina – a great place to grow!
We’re lucky to have so many good plant nurseries, garden centers, and gardening shops here in the Asheville blue ridge mountain area – some of which I’ve described in detail above – and there are many more too!
I hope this list gives you a sense of where to start your gardening and landscaping adventures. Happy planting!