Plant Nurseries

Good local plant nurseries for natives and edible exotics:

Bach’s Cactus Nursery, Tucson. 744-3333. many cacti, ask which have the tastiest fruit.

Catalina Heights, Tucson. 298-2822. a gentle, family run operation with good fruit tree selection. Some native plants.

Civano Nursery, Tucson. 5301 S. Houghton Rd. 546-9200. good nursery on the southeast side of town with natives and fruit trees.

Coronado Heights Nursery, 882-0969. Owner Bernie operates this nursery in her back yard beside her husband’s native seed company – Wildlands Restoration. They’re great people and Bernie can take contract grow-outs. She propagates her plants in extra deep pots which encourage deeper root growth and greater success in survival rates. This is not typically a retail business.

Elephant Tree Greenhouses, 130 West Armijo Street. 882-8335. Call Marya Olsen for hours. Sonoran perennials and odd desert scrub are the specialties and grown on site.

Desert Survivors, Tucson. 791-9309. a non-profit nursery offering many native plants.

Mesquite Valley Growers, Tucson. 721-8600. the largest nursery in our area.

Plants for the Southwest, Tucson. 628-8773. knowledgeable owners and interesting selection of natives and dryland plants.

Tohono Chul, Tucson. 742-6455. many natives, some you don’t usually find elsewhere. They have extensive gardens where you can see mature specimens of all the plants they sell. Tucson Botanical Gardens Nursery, Tucson. 326-9255. At their plant sales you can often find some selections that you can’t get elsewhere.

Good plant nurseries for higher elevation

(3,500′ +) native plants:

Arizona Cactus & Succulent Research, Inc., 8 South Cactus Lane, Bisbee, AZ 85603-6306, (520) 432-7040. Email: azcactus@primenet.com. Website: www.arizonacactus.com. This site has the Arizona Cactus’ Botanical Garden, extensive library, and guided tours.

Spadefoot Nursery, Pearce. 824-3247. A wholesale nursery. Many natives, Peter (Petey Mesquitey) really knows his plants and is a wonderful storyteller and guide. A good source of higher elevation plants.

Flagstaff Native Plant Nursery, 400 East Butler, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. 520-773-9406. fax: 520- 773 0107

Out of town nurseries with interesting edibles:

-when mail ordering plants be sure they can take our extreme growing conditions. Ask before you order-

Oregon Exotics Nursery, 1065 Messinger Road, Grants Pass, Oregon 97527. www.exoticfruit.com. Edible and medicinal plants from around the world, including some interesting edible cactus. (Cat. $4)

Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery, PO Box 160, Vista, CA 92085. (760) 724-9093. They don’t have any plants native to the Southwest, but they do have a great diversity of edible exotics including hard to find pomegranate cultivars that are much sweeter than those found locally. Everything grown organically…and guarded by wild butterflies.

Edible Landscaping, PO Box 77, Afton, Virginia 22920. 1-800-524-4156. www.eat-it.com. Good selection of edible exotics.

Pacific Tree Farms, 4301 Lynwood Drive, Chula Vista, CA 91910. (619) 422-2400. Good selection of edible exotics including fruiting olive trees!