Not sure where to buy houseplants from? Or even the best place to start your search? Well you've come to the right place.
The good news is that indoor plants are incredibly popular right now and this means you can buy and find houseplants for sale from a good many places. From traditional plant shops to online and multiple places in between.
Fern and Ivy Plants in Cirencester (UK).
There are positive and negatives to each which I'll explore in my best place to buy indoor plants guide.
First here are a few houseplant buying tips that can be used no matter where you decide to buy from.
As long as you're picking live plants, anything you can grab off the clearance shelf could be a good deal. All you need is a little bit of a green thumb to bring it back.
Hi, I'm Tom!
If you're like me and enjoy the challenge of growing houseplants and getting them to thrive, then Ourhouseplants can help. This website shares my knowledge and years of growing plants and provides (hopefully) helpful advice on properly caring for your indoor plant friends.
An online plant shop is an increasingly common way to buy. It's quick, convenient and a fantastic way to get hold of rare or hard to find house plants. The clear disadvantage is that you are buying "blind" you have no idea what the actual plant they're packing up and sending to you actually looks like.
Buy from a reputable online retailer, be skeptical of any offers or "sales" sounding to good to be true and always, always, ALWAYS read the description of what you're buying.
Never assume the plant in the picture is the one you're literally going to get or assume that it's truly representative of what will be sent. Often you may end up with small plants when the photo on the website shows something much larger. If it's listed, look at the container size for a guide to how big it's going to be.
Examples of online retailers: - eBay, Etsy, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com (Affiliate Links)
The Garden Centre or independent Nursery is normally a brilliant place to buy good quality houseplants. As well as having good return policies if something goes wrong, they'll often have something for any skill level.
Beautiful houseplants arranged as a focal point in a Garden Center. You can easily imagine some of these growing in your living room or bedroom when displayed like this.
The people selling them should be knowledgeable and keen to assist you where possible, you've obviously gone there to look for a plant and they'll sell you one if possible.
The business depends on the income generated from selling each and every one of these plants and because they might have been in the shop for some time before being sold, they'll be well taken care.
This may seem a strange place to stock your indoor garden, but seeing as many Supermarkets sell all kinds of things these days it probably isn't overly surprising you can find houseplants for sale too.
They tend to be incredibly cheap, but the range is often limited, quickly changes and the stock may not be of great quality. These areas often provide low light levels so you're more likely to find low-maintenance plants rather than exotic tropical plants.
These tend to be shops which focus almost exclusively on plants and quite often are in an area with lots of passing trade.
This shop is packed with wonderful houseplants for sale. If you want a healthy houseplant a high street shop will almost certainly deliver this.
Their reputation is paramount to their survival and the owners have to pay heavy rents for such popular locations.
With this in mind you may pay a little more than in other places, but because the expertise on hand should be exceptional they're definitely a strong contender for one of the best places to buy healthy houseplants.
Are you in the UK or USA?
Jane Perrone has created and maintains a list of houseplant shops in the UK which you can see here. She also has another list for my American readers.
The designs of the stores are often gorgeous and demonstrate that the owners have a real passion for plants and know their stuff.
They often have a strong social media presence and could offer discounts or competitions.
A place for plant lovers - Tropigaz, a Houseplant shop in Wales (UK).
An good high street store will stock a variety of well treated seasonal houseplants at inexpensive prices. However in our experience, in most department stores the plants are not the main focus of the shop, i.e. it might specialise in clothing or food and the plants are just an after thought or "add on" at the tills.
Therefore regrettably most plants in these places are not well looked after and pest infested or diseased plants are quite common. If you're looking for a particular plant this may not be the best place to start your search, however you could still find a good deal.
Chain stores like Home Depot and Walmart often have a "garden centre" or house decoration section, which will inevitably sell houseplants.
Plants and planters for sale in a big box store.
Prices are normally fair, and the selection varied. Quality is often excellent, although the staff members may not be well trained in "plants" and the care labels attached to the pots are often generic in their instructions.
If you're trying to watch your carbon footprint then picking up a houseplant or two while you're already shopping in your local stores can be helpful.
Most aspects of a Market Stall and a Florist tend to be average in terms of the range of houseplants they sell as they're typically only small businesses.
Due to space limitations, these places tend to be quite limited spaces, or they're also selling other services or products at the same time. For example in the case of a Florist most of the space will be reserved for their cut flowers.
Florist market store selling houseplants.
However don't let this put you off as this could still be a good spot to find more common varieties of well cared for houseplants.
It's quite common at Fetes, Fairs and plant Shows to find amateur stalls selling garden plants but you may also find ones selling home grown indoor plants too. The selection however is often limited and you may only find types which are very easy for the lay person to propagate, i.e. Spider Plants.
Sometimes you can find rare plant shows where you can really pick out an unusual houseplant to add to your collection. These stalls will often have very knowledgeable staff and will be happy to offer advice to a new plant parent.
The Rita Botanicals stand at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival in 2024. She was selling traditional plants like Snake Plants but also some new plants I'd never seen before.
Prices can be quite varied although sometimes a proportion of the sale price will go to the very reason for holding the fair in the first place , i.e. to a charity or a school. So you may find your perfect plant at the same time as doing something good.
Have I missed any? Where do you buy your houseplants from? Tell me in the comments below.
Over the last 20 years, Tom has successfully owned hundreds of houseplants and is always happy to share knowledge and lend his horticulture skills to those in need. He is the leading content writer for the Ourhouseplants Team.
