Hello,
I don't live in Chicago, but I do know everyplace that sells plants in a 50 mile radius from my house. Keep your eyes and ears open.
AL

howdy mr brown thumb, fertile gardens on Diversey & Paulina (1700 W) is pretty good.

I'm kind of ambivalent regarding Gethsemane, they have such nice stuff, but it's too expensive & I've had no better long term success with their plants than ones from Home Depot or the supermarket.

Hi there. I'm on the northwest side and find it worth the trip to Des Plaines to go to Lurvey's (especially trees and shrubs) and Pesche's (a.k.a. "mecca" for all things gardening).

Ditto here. I'm on the NW side too. Got most of my perennials from Bluestone Perennials, some from Meineke on Touhy/Lehigh, some from Pesche in Des Plaines on Rand Road & Des Plaines River Rd. A few from Gethesmane - expensive and quite a hike for me. Got some from Home Depot as well.

And I get the bulk of my bulbs from Van Engelen.

well no kidding - I'm in Avondale, looks like a NW side party here! : )

Let's have a party. :-D

I just finished planting tons of bulbs and started to clean up ratty looking plants. Will need to thin out a lot of stuffs from my gardens too and refill my compost bins. Am shredding leaves now using my leaf vac. Have no powered lawn mower. I dump shredded leaves on my flower beds. Will go get manure and compost to anchor down the leaves. Anybody interested in going to get manure with me? It's free for the taking.

LOL, I'm on the opposite side of the city from most of you here. Nice to see some people from this area. I was on my way to North Riverside and I passed a little mom and pop place on a side street, but I can't find it now to save my life. I'll have to pay more attention next time. It was a charming little green house in the middle of a neighorhood I got lost in.

I'll have to book mark the site and come back to it as a reference in the spring. I hear you all about the prices at Gethsemane I can't shop there like I'd like but I do love that green house and like to wander around it. If I hit the lotto they'll become real accquainted with me.

pitimpinai;

Free manure huh? Sounds pretty stinky.

:-D .....Not if I get to the part of the pile that has been aged. That part would smell like well aged compost.

I used to get it from the Chicago Police horse barn on South Shore Drive & 75th. THAT was stinky! and full of weed seeds. Won't go there again.

Hello there is a place on the south west side called sid's nursery & green house they sell plumerias, palms, banana, water plants and to much to list. Store Hours & Locations

Palos Hills Store
708-974-4500
800-974-7437
10926 Southwest Highway
Palos Hills, IL

I love Sid's!

I've gotten most of my trees there, very friendly and knowledgable folks, it's hard to find trees in the city, and a lot of nurseries are geared towards landscapers and so forth, Sid's has been a treat every time.

Mr. Brown Thumb - the little greenhouse in the middle of a neighborhood near N. Riverside might be Capek's on Pershing in Berwyn. I've been there just once this summer and they had some nice things. Forest Park also has The Good Earth on Madison about 2 miles west of Harlem - ok but pricy. I lived in MN until last Dec and found that anything gardening related was much lower in price there than greater Chicago. So, in the spring I do road trips up to WI and MN. I also get bulbs from oldhousegardens.com and have always been satisfied. I'm still looking for a convenient and good gardening center near Oak Park that's good for those quick runs to the garden center on a Sat. afternoon.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Kec01,

Thanks I was wondering if I would ever find that place again. You also reminded me of the portable garden center that opens up in the strip mall across from N Riverside. Right under the statue of the stack of cars. I was there late summer during their end of summer sale and bought a foot and a half rosemary for 7.00 to train into a Topiary. All the boutique garden store in the city that sell them starting at 30.00. I meant to go back but by the time I did they had gotten rid of all their plants and were getting ready with the halloween stuff.

Mr, I'm not far from the N. Riverside Mall, and go there quite often..I've found some lovely plants there.
Another place I love shopping is Ted's in Tinley Park. They've gh after gh. From tropicals to perrenials..Toni

Thanks toni

I'll have to check them out sometime.

Thanks all for the suggestions.

One last suggestion - Ted's from Tinley Park has space in the summer at the Oak Park Farmer's Market.