I have a good friend who lives in the Pittsburgh area and is always talking about Trax Farms. I've never been there so don't really know what it's like but they do have a website. Maybe someone here knows about this place and could tell you more.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trax Farms

Trax has an excellent selection of plants, especially perennials, annuals, and herbs. There is a garden shop with everything you could ever want. Plus, there is a continuous farmer's market and bakery. It is an event just to go there.

In the NE, off Rt. 28, is Friday's Perennials which have a wide selection of perennials both sun and shade.

LMS is near Hartwood Acres and has a good selection of perennials, annuals, shrubs, and trees.

Soergels in the North Hills has a very good reputation.

It all depends on how far you want to drive and what you are looking for.

Karen

Add Chapons in Homestead and Reilly's Summer Seat off Mt. Nebo road.

Great places!

As Wolfe said, Chapons. I've been there plenty of times. Great place, not huge but they seem to have almost everything. I even bought a small 5 inch papaya baby seedling this past May there. Now that thing is about 4 feet tall!

Am looking for Bob's Blunder Geraniums. Bought one last year but it didn't return. Anywhere in a 20 mile radius of Wexford, Warrendale, or Cranberry Twp. Thanks!

Hi there-

I'm near Chapons but have also heard great things about Bedner's out in Cecil Twp.

Just another followup... In the last 3 years, I've visited just about everywhere in the Pittsburgh area, minus a few places far north (Soergel, Bakerstown, etc.) or south (Bedner, etc).

I will try and get some mentions in about the best places, as well as mention some others that people may not have heard of. THESE PLACES ARE ALL WORTH A LOOK - YOU MAY FIND SOMETHING YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.

My List (in proximity to the East Hills):

Chelse's Greenhouse (Monroeville Rt. 22): Small, owners are nice, but selection isn't fantastic and neither are the prices. Newly propagated plants are in large pots and marked up.

Walmart (DELMONT Rt. 22): Seems to get peculiar plants that other Walmarts don't. Check it frequently!

Home Depot (Wilkins Rt. 22 AND Route 30 North Versailles): Has great clearance prices on live goods around late June through early Fall. Better selection than Ross Twp.

Stanford Home Center (Plum): Rt. 286. Carries lots of unique plants, and a lot of Monrovia selections. You can get things for awesome prices because of mismarked and clearance items.

Holiday Garden Center (Plum Rt. 286): Nice selection and friendly staff. Some prices are jacked up, but you can find nice things at decent prices, so look carefully! Carry bulk supplies.

Plumline Nursery (Plum - Logan Ferry Rd.): Fairly large, nice selection and *some* hard to find items. The prices seem high, though. You may find a few mismarked items which they will sell to you cheap.

Camp Joann Nursery (Apollo - route 380): Small, mediocre selection. Competitive pricing.

380 Auction (Route 380 Murrysville): The best kept secret for annuals and perennials. Dirt cheap prices. Selection is constantly changing because everything sells as fast as it comes in.

Tedesco's (Verona): Corner of Sandy Creek Rd and Allegheny River Blvd. Small place but busy - carries traditional seasonal annuals/perennials.

Overbeck's (Blawnox): Located right on Freeport Rd. Haven't been there yet but looks small-to-medium sized.

Penn Hills Lawn & Garden (Jefferson/Universal/Rodi roads): Small but decent selection and prices. Bulk maerials.

Beall's Greenhouse (Route 380, Plum): Decent selection, somewhat high prices. Bulk materials.

Kmart (NEW KENSINGTON - Tarentum Bridge Rd): Carries plants that no other Kmart in the region seems to. Prices are great. Annuals line the whole storefront from end to end!

Lowe's (Pittsburgh Mills): Gets in more stock than most other Lowe's.

Chapon's (Streets Run Rd, near Baldwin): Small, but packed with stuff. Decent enough prices.

Trax Farms (Finleyville Rt. 88): HUGE. Hard to find perennials and shrubs, tons of annuals, and much more.

Reilly's Summer Seat Farm (North Hills, past Camp Horn Rd): Decent enough size, some nice harder to find / current items. Competitive Pricing.

Brenckles (Mount Troy Rd., Reserve Twp): Very large greenhouses, excellent custom-filled planters and baskets.

Best Feeds (Babcock Blvd near Ross): Nice layout, decent selection.

Hahn's (Babcock Blvd near Ross): Nice layout, great selection, some really decent prices if you look.

Michael Bros. (Michael Rd, Russelton): Great Layout, Great Selection, Great Prices (for pot sizes). Nice greenhouses, too.

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And wanna know the best time to visit nurseries? SUNDAY, between 10 and 4. Traffic on Sundays in Spring is unbeatably easy to negotiate. You can visit 4-5+ nurseries in 3 hours or less if you are an Allegheny County resident.

I made a road trip last Saturday to Shields herb & Flower Farm in Spraggs (outside of Waynesburg). Took about 90 minutes to get there from North Huntingdon. They also have a winery -- but it's not worth it unless you like sweet, Pennsylvania wine ... I hate sweet wine, so I skipped this. They ferment the juice of grapes they get from the Erie region and sweeten it with honey and call it melomel (mead + fruit).

As for the plants, I'd say it was worth the trip.They had a wide variety and had at least eight and maybe 10 greenhouses to walk through and a bunch of plants outside. All the plants looked healthy.

For $92, I got:

* 4 good-sized perennial geraniums
* 2 good-sized anemone
* 18 small dianthus Super Parfait Raspberry (in starter sixpacks)
* 6 begonia
* 5 gerbera daisy
* 8 pepper plants
* 4 cherry tomato plants
* 4 squash/zuchini
* 2 cucumber
* 18 plants with white, pink, purple colors that my wife liked and we forget to ask what they were
* 1 large lemon balm plant
* apple wooly mint
* and three or four herb plants

An average of about $1.20 per plant? I can live with that.

I have great luck with the plants from Schweikert Greenhouse located at 320 Wallrose Heights Road, Baden.

Here is a link that might be useful: Schweikert Greenhouse

I can second 380 Auction Barn. You cannot beat the prices. Also there is a little nursery in Export or Delmont called Homces. Super cheap plants and a family run business. I don't think I have lost one yet from there!