How to Find Special Plants

Sometimes a particular plant simply knocks your socks off. Maybe you see a picture in a magazine or hear it described on television.

But when you go to your local nursery, they tell you that the plant is so new to the market that they can't get any.

What do you do then?

When I'm in this situation, I rely on three main online sources: Plant Delights Nursery, in North Carolina, Woodlanders, in South Carolina and Forest Farm Nursery, in Oregon.

Locally, some nurseries seem to specialize in locating hard-to-find plants. I commonly call Habersham Gardens (404-873-2484), Hastings Garden Center (404.869.7447), The Urban Gardener (404-529-9980), Perennial Grace Nursery in Alpharetta (770-569-5448), Scottdale Farms Nursery in Alpharetta (770-777-5875) or Autumn Hill Nursery in Woodstock (770-442-3901).

For woody plants, I ask Land Arts Nursery (770-267-4500) in Monroe, Pinebush Nursery (706-789-2344) in Ila, Walker Nursery (770-471-6011) in Jonesboro or The Pottery (706-335-5984) in Commerce or Cofer’s Home Garden (706-353-1519) in Athens

For fruit trees, I call Johnson Nursery (www.johnsonnursery.com), in Ellijay, Lawson’s Nursery in Ball Ground (770/893-2141 ), Bottom’s Nursery in Concord (770-884-5661) or Ison’s Nursery in Brooks (770/599-6970)

This list is not meant to exclude any other nursery - it's simply a compilation of the ones I call that are usually helpful in pointing me toward a particular plant I want.