You'll hear and read lots of bad stuff about TY-Ty nursery, which is about 8 miles west of Tifton. I, too have had mostly poor experiences from their mail-order operation, but in person it is much, much better, with a nice selection. There is also a nice nursery ( sorry i can't remember the name of it!) in Gainesville, Florida with plant selections that'd you probably only find elsewhere in the state of Georgia in the Savannah-St. Simon's area....Jacksonville has several nice ones, I imagine, but haven't visited any in person, like I have in TyTy and Gainesville.

Wilmington:
Which road is it on in Gainesville? I've passed the TyTy nursery headed from Valdosta to Albany before. It's probably about an hour or so from here. Would be worth the trip if you can find some good plants. Have you ever gone to any nurseries in Tallahassee?
Laurie

Just Fruits
(approx 10 miles south of Tallahassee, off 98, near Medart, and 319) has alot to offer

I'm at a loss. I come into Tallahassee frequently on 90 from Monticello, but I can't find a Medart or a 98 on my map. Can you give me directions from Tallahassee? I'd love to visit the nursery. I take it they sell more than, Just Fruits.
Laurie

I believe the one in Medart FL is called "Just Fruits and Exotics". I've never been there but I've passed by a couple times.
Laurie,
From Tallahassee, first you need to find south Capital Circle. (do you know where Flea Mkt Tallahassee is?).
From there, you can either take Woodville Hwy south , thru Woodville towards the coast, maybe 15 miles, and when you come to Hwy 98, go right , maybe another 15 miles, and the nursery on your left.
Or, take Crawfordville Hwy south, thru Crawfordville, towards the coast about 20 miles, and when you come to 98 go left, and it's maybe 5 miles on your right.
I hope that wasn't too confusing.
If you do go thru Crawfordville, there is another little Nursery on the right before you get into Crawfordville. Purple Martin or something of that nature. You can't miss it. A nice enuf place, a nice selection of plants for a smaller place.
lpater, I'm glad you asked this question, we were considering going up to Tyty, and were wondering about it, too. And, I forgot all about seeing Just Fruits, last year and wanting to go back, till I read about it again, here.
As for the others, I've been to Espositos in Tallahassee and Tallahassee Nursery. Both very nice places to go and look around, but IMHO a bit pricey. They have a lot of nice things and I do buy from them, but not on a regular basis.

I just read that again, and I'm hoping my last statement didn't sound too harsh. I didn't mean it to.
I guess maybe a better way to have said it is that I buy from them, but not as much as I'd like to!
I've enjoyed visiting both of them (good variety and friendly staff) and I'm glad they're here.
They are both fine places. I would recommend either for a visit. Tallahassee Nursery is also close to Alfed B. Mclay State Gardens. Nice day trip.

sorry for being so slow on directions, which have been "directed"

Espositos Tallahassee Nursey and Purple Martin are excellent nurseries
so is Native Nurseries in Tallahassee

there's a place that was bought and name-changed from Appalachy Nursery(sp?)(and don't remember the new name) outside Monticello off rt59 that is very good too

Thanks so much everyone for the directions and for the suggestions. I just took a visit to Tallahassee nursery weekend before last. Beautiful and pricey. But much drooling ensued. They have terrific fountains and other garden ornamentation. I bought 3 natchez crepe myrtles and paid much more than I should have. Also, bought a sweet autumn clematis vine. Anyway, thanks again and I'll be taking some fun day trips in the near future.
Laurie

Espositos is indeed nice, but pricy. Kind of like Hester and Zipperer in Savanah on Skidaway RD. As to the "road" the nursery is off of in Gainesville..I can't remember but it is only about 2 miles off of 1-75....I know that must help you tremendously..LOL. I'd say TY-TY would be worth a trip in person if you are going to be in the area, particulary this time of year.

Just Fruits and Exotics in Crawfordville as others have mentioned has been really good to me and I recommend them highly.

Peacocks Nursery in Florahome, Florida northwest of Palatka has been another good one.

Always a good idea to call ahead to see what the selection is like because it varies with the season and the demand.

If anyone ever comes up with the name of that Gainesville, FL nursery I'd like to know what it is.

.....Alan.

Here is a link that might be useful: Just Fruits & Exotics

Hi All: ) Most nurseries here in Jacksonville have the "same-ol-same-ol" but I like these two:

Plants 4 less 830 Kingsley Ave (Orange Park)
Let it Grow 5253 Hood Rd. (Mandarin)

Lisa

I apologize for second post of my experience, but for readers benefit, here is my experience dealing with them:

-------
If I'd known about GardenWatchDog of tyty, I would have never ordered plants from them. But I have learned from the terrible experience, and I recommend, implore, and beg others to give a serious dose of doubt in dealing with them.(Preferably never!!)

Sure, what got me into ordering from them is their fancy dancy web pages of beautiful plants & trees. The blankness and blandness of their sales rep's response should have ward off me from being their prey but the relatively competitive price kept me hooked in ordering several trees. (This was in September 04 and of course, they immediately charged the bill to my credit card.)

I have been waiting and waiting for the trees to arrive and finaly in early December they arrived packed in a low quality packing box. The roots of the trees were poorly wrapped in plastic bags with only a hint of jell water. Thank goodness that VA is not far from GA...

After unpacking and looking at them, to my surprise, several of the trees were not the kind I'd ordered. So I called them about the errors and they reluctantly promised to send me a replacement. Also after a long discussion of convincing them of their mistakes, a promise of reimbursement for my part of shipping back of the wrong trees was made.

After having confirmed that they'd received the wrong trees I'd sent back, being a trusting (and a gullible) being that I am, I'd also put an order for additional trees during my next call.
I also tried to confirm the reimbursement of my shipping cost, and that is when the sales rep suddenly changed his tone and accused me of conjuring up a promise he'd never made (actually I'd sent a letter confirming his promise when I'd sent the wrong trees back to them.) Furthermore, he threatened to cancel my new order (like as if they are doing me a favor) and then hung up on me..

In all years of my dealing with a business, I have seldom ran into a businesss with such a rude customer treatment behavior and where their threat comes with a suicidal behavior of even not accepting a sales profit opportunity. To them, they are the king and customers are their slaves!!

My second call for a request to talk to a manager brought back (after a long hold) another rude and clueless sales rep who was repeating the same statement the first rep was talking in the background (Yes, I could hear the voice of the first rep through in the background.)

After trying to calmly rationalize the situation with the second guy multiple times w/o a success and with his threat of take it or leave it (& also we don't want your second order business either statement), I finally gave up and wish them the best!!

In retrospect, I should have noticed that any reputable on-line nursery (their website sure seems as if they are) would have some way of providing a catalog and a something of resembling a customer friendly sales/service support staff. The Dell of an online nursery they certainly are.. NOT!!!!

Caveat Emptor!!

Florida is working to establish a ( Trees Are Cool) license plate for the Florida Chapter of International Society of Arboriculturist.
Please go to www.treesarecool.com to help if you are a florida resident

I have been to quite a few nurseries in the Tallahassee, FL area and found a nice one outside of town. It's between Tallahassee and Monticello, Fl. It's called Apalachee Native Nurseries. I think they're only open on Saturdays. I spoke with one of the owners and he said they should have a website up fairly soon. I like to support smaller businesses that may be more obscure than that of the obvious. They worked pretty well with me on prices for the trees and shrubs I wanted. The address is 12 hayfield Spur off Loyd Creek Rd., Monticello, FL 32344, Phone: (850) 997-8976