When you shop at Painters Greenhouse not only are you supporting a local small business, you are also shopping from one of the largest selections of locally grown plants in WNC.  We are proud to grow the majority of our plants on site in our greenhouses from seeds, cuttings, bareroot, or plugs to mature potted plants ready for you to take home!

Sara sowing seeds last fall.

These baby Black-Eyed Susan plants were sown in September by Sara, transplanted into plug trays several weeks later by Beth, and then Moises and Diego cared for them in our cold frame over the winter (this allowed for proper vernalization - the long cold period needed to promote flowering).

Beth bumping our seedlings up into plug trays.

This batch was one of several rounds grown throughout the year.  Soon they will be planted in pots by Maria, Azia, Kerry, Ana and Yanet, then moved back to the cold frame while they root in…

Our propogation team transplanting plugs into the pots they will be sold in.

...and before you know it you’ll see them for sale on the retail floor.  It takes precise planning, years of experience, months of growing, and a team of 10 plus people to get these plants ready for you to take home at the ideal time to plant.  (Now consider the fact that we do this for over a thousand varieties of annuals, perennials, houseplants, trees, shrubs, and more!)

So why do we do it? 

Growing a majority of our own plants reduces our carbon footprint significantly, means we know the entire history of the plant and can control everything that comes in contact with it, and helps us keep our prices competitive.  It means less shipping trucks on the road and reducing fossil fuel usage by forgoing the need to have lots of mature plants delivered - short of some of our houseplants, anything we don’t grow ourselves is grown within a hundred miles.

This is the way Painters has done it for 50 years.  While some may think we are crazy to grow and sell direct from the same location (it definitely comes with many challenges), we love growing and we love the face-to-face with our dedicated customers.  We are deeply grateful for the growers and production members behind our diverse and healthy inventory, thankful for the talented horticulturists nearby who wholesale many of the species we don’t grow ourselves, and grateful to all our loyal customers who value the Painters difference.