It is nursery season and once again I’m out an about.  This year I have less time to get out to visit nurseries because I spend half of the weekend in one.  You would also think that since I work in a nursery I would 1) have no need to go to other nurseries or 2) would be so sick of them that I wouldn’t want to go.  On the contrary.

The nursery I work in is small and although we can order just about everything it is fun to go to other nurseries.  I also love to garden.  We are talking looove.  It is what I do.  Hell, I visit the nursery I work in on my days off.

This week you’ll hear about two nurseries we visited over the weekend.  Both were in Seattle and very different from each other.

The first is Swanson’s Nursery.  This ranks right up there with Molbak’s in size.  Not quite that large, but enough to get lost in.  I’ve never had the opportunity to spend more than an hour in Swanson’s simply because by the time we get up to Seattle, have lunch and get to the nursery I’m already tired.  Today was not different.  The fact that it was cold didn’t help either.

Like I mentioned, Swanson’s is huge.  They have a lovely little cafe, many indoor shopping areas and it seems that every time I visit there is a new structure that has been built over the winter.  Their selection of plant material is vast and this trip we focused on tomato plants, herbs and veggies.  They had at least 15 different kinds of oregano alone.  It was a little much.

Overall, I love Swanson’s.  It is something out of the ordinary since none of the nurseries in the Tacoma area are quite that large.  It is closer to us than Molbak’s and in a part of Seattle that I love visiting anyway.  The nursery is clean and the quality of the plant material is top notch.

Like every nursery there are a few drawbacks.  Their prices are a little high for my taste.  They charge $3.99 on average for a 4″ plant and most perennials are more than that.  Their 3″ tomatoes were 3 for $12 and gallons were $6 each.  Heirloom or not.  That is too high, so I stuck with the 4″.

The other think I don’t care for at Swanson’s is their customer service.  It seems rather impersonal to me.  While the store was rather busy when we were there we were not greeted by a single employee and the cashier was not warm and friendly.  This is the trouble with the larger nurseries.

Will I go back?  Of course.  It is a fun trip up north and worth it.  However, next time I go I will go on a warm day and plan to go when I can spend a good amount of time (and have some money).