The Arbor Gate is more than just a plant nursery. It’s also a charming garden center that features a wide array of decorative pieces alongside its collection of both common and rare plants.

What to get: Hardy Earthkind roses, herbs, artisan pottery, and home decor.

This family-owned nursery has been open since 1995 and includes a 14-acre garden center serving both homeowners and professional landscape artists. It’s also dog-friendly, so feel free to bring your bestie along as you shop.

What to get: Locally grown trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses, roses, and perennials, plus a selection of trees, palms, and native, tropical, low-maintenance plants.

This celebrated Heights nursery has been a local fixture since it first opened in 1986. While it caters to both experienced and novice gardeners, newbies with not-so-green thumbs will appreciate that the plants here are largely native to the region, meaning they’re generally heat and drought-tolerant. The home goods shop here is also quite nice.

What to get: Native (read: low-maintenance) plants, trees, organic gardening supplies, and the option to shop online.

If you’re looking for succulents and cacti, this quirky nursery should be your go-to. The variety at Cactus King is endless. Feel like dropping several hundred on a massive saguaro or similarly large cactus? You’ll have plenty of options here. Looking for some rare succulents to decorate your patio? There are dozens of species that you’ve never seen or heard of before. Adding to the spot’s personality is how it only accepts cash, money orders, or checks (including echecks) in an age where so many businesses have switched to card-only.

What to get: Cacti and other succulents, plus an assortment of pottery and stones.

This massive garden center chain was founded in 1986 and has locations across Texas, including five in the Houston area alone. Unlike many big-box nurseries in the area, whose employees are not always the best educated in plant care, Cornelius’s staffers are highly trained and always ready to offer advice.

What to get: Really good soil, houseplants, seeds and bulbs, shrubs, and flowers.

If you get easily overwhelmed when too many options present themselves, sometimes it’s smart to do your plant shopping at a smaller spot. Enter Dirt Bag. This small, indoor shop offers a curated selection of plants and gardening goods perfect for plant lovers of any level.

What to get: ​​Small-batch soil mixes for indoor cacti, succulents, and tropical houseplants.

What makes Enchanted Gardens a rarity in the region is the fact that many of the charming nursery’s plants are grown in its on-site greenhouses. Adding to the nursery’s appeal is the fact that it’s home to a variety of resident animals—cats, goats, even chickens—who all have their own job title. Bolt the cat, for example, is the garden’s front desk attendant. Poncho the rooster, meanwhile, has the extremely important job of goat management. Herschel the goat? Well, he’s Poncho’s bodyguard.

What to get: Custom-designed container gardens, statues, lawn ornaments, vegetables, and herbs.

What else to do: Look at cute farm animals.

Gripon Gardens has been operated by the same family since 1951 and includes scenic features like ponds and disappearing waterfalls in addition to its choice variety of plants for purchase. Come for the sightseeing; stay for the plant shopping.

What to get: Flowers, shrubs, trees, foliage, greenery, aquatic plants, and more.

What started out as a local farm produce stand has turned into a one-stop shop for all your garden needs. What separates J&J from other nurseries in the area is the wide variety of landscaping stones it offers; it’s a great place to shop if you’re installing some new beds and not just replanting your older ones.

What to get: Plants, vegetables, herbs, mulch, soil, stone, gravel, fertilizers, and yard decor.

Joshua’s Native Plants and Garden is another nursery in the Heights centered around all things native plants. Even better: The shop has a well-curated selection of pots. If you’re a container gardener, you’ll be delighted by the variety found here, which ranges from second-hand and antique to quirky and classical.

What to get: Native plants, colorful pottery, Thrive roses (the new Knock-Outs).

The story of this organic-based garden center started in 1986 when its founder suffered an allergic reaction to a common fungicide that nearly killed him. That experience led to a massive amount of research into organic gardening methods and the creation of Nature’s Way Resources. If you’re a bit granola in your gardening, then this is the best spot in the Houston area to do your shopping.

What to get: Organic composts, mulches, soils, and potting mixes, as well as fruit trees, herbs, vegetables, perennials, roses, heirlooms, natives, sands, decorative gravels, and rocks.

This garden center has been family-owned and operated since 1973. In addition to being a great retail location, it also offers gardening classes, kid-friendly events, and custom potting.

What to get: Classes, tree potting, custom potting, trees, shrubs, herbs, vegetables, perennials, annuals, ground cover, and grasses.

This nursery has been open since 1979 and offers a wide variety of plants, including trees they grow on site themselves, meaning they’re already acclimated to Houston’s weather. The owners of the shop are also fascinated by birds. Several have called the nursery home through the years, from peacocks and quail to parakeets. The most famous bird at RCW? Well, that would be “Bud,” a Hahn’s macaw who serves as the nursery’s mascot and knows about 100 words.

What to get: Plants, shrubs, trees, roses, annuals, perennials, vegetables, and herbs.

What else to do: Look at birds. Lots of them.

Open since 1998, Shades of Texas has made a reputation for its high-quality offerings. One aspect of the nursery that sets it apart from others is that it also provides professional landscaping services.

What to get: Plants, trees, and shrubs; sand, gravel, rock, soil, mulch, and natural stone; options for large rock waterfalls and fishponds.

In addition to plants, Southwest Fertilizer is stocked with everything from gardening tools and supplies to lawn equipment and organic fertilizers. It also has food for pets and farm animals.

What to get: Both synthetic and organic fertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides.

Thompson + Hanson, which sports one of the fanciest websites of any garden store in town, has locations in River Oaks and West University; obviously, the products here cater a bit more to the luxe gardening crowd. The River Oaks location is also next to Tiny Boxwoods. If you take advantage of that proximity, you can do your plant shopping while also nibbling on one of Tiny’s famous cookies. Combined, it makes for a pretty magical shopping experience.

What to get: Plants, trees, roses, custom potting, and landscaping.

What else to do: Grab a cookie next door.

This feed store and garden center, open for over 100 years, is a Houston institution. In addition to being home to a wide variety of plants, it’s also full of farming supplies, seeds, pet food, home decor, and live farm animals. Before you do your plant shopping, make sure you walk through the back section of the shop to say hello to all the cute chickens, ducks, and bunnies available for purchase.

What to get: Anything and everything—including the occasional peacock.