Local Tourist: Mesquite Valley Growers Tour
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We’re back with another local hot spot! I promise they won’t all be nurseries. Probably. Maybe. You can see all of my Local Tourist posts here. Let’s get started! I have been visiting the Mesquite Valley Growers Nursery for years and years, but it’s been especially fun since they built a beautiful new facility and reworked their grounds a couple of years ago. If you have even the slightest interest in plants or maybe just have a half an hour to kill, stop by. It can really turn your day around. Come along with me on a photo-heavy Mesquite Valley Growers tour:
Getting Started
One of the really cool things that they’ve done here at MVG is landscape their property including the parking lot with common landscape plants. It gives you a great sense of things that might work at your house, and let’s you see plants fully grown and integrated into larger plantings.
They also have some really unique water features and sculpture – one of the staff rode by on a golf cart as I snapped the photos of this water feature and let me know it was custom designed by the owner. A truly one-of-a-kind piece.
The Main Building
Once you step through the automatic doors at the entrance, you start to get a sense of how vast and extensive a nursery this really is. There are plants covering almost every surface, and on top of that, beautiful images throughout. I especially love that they went with these gorgeous ceiling tiles in the entryway. Oh, and if you make a visit, check out the bathrooms – that might sound weird, but they are surprisingly luxe!
The main building houses their gift shop, seeds, bulbs, some pottery and gift type plants like bromeliads and other smaller items. They also have a desk here where there’s generally someone who can help you find anything specific you might be looking for. From here, you can head out to the flower greenhouse, or straight outdoors to the rest of the property. For our Mesquite Valley Growers tour, I say flowers first!
Flower Greenhouse
This is my favorite place at MVG. They have pretty much any flower you could think to plant here in Tucson, plus vegetable starts, beautifully designed planters, fairy gardens and more. Near the front there is always a section of holiday selections too – when I visited, they already had their Valentine’s display up.
Once you’ve spent a minute or forty in with the flowers, you can head back out to the main grounds. Here there are paths leading throughout, and large signage pointing to anything you might be looking for.
If your interest is piqued by those cactus, you might enjoy my tour of B&B Cactus Farm! Out of necessity, I won’t show you everything they have – ain’t nobody got time for that. Here’s the highlights I like to hit when I visit:
Roses
I don’t think you can do a Mesquite Valley Growers tour without stopping to smell the roses (I’m so sorry, I couldn’t resist!). They have a huge variety both in size, shape and type of rose. If you want a bush to plant in a container, a rambler to take over a side yard, or a climbing rose to decorate a wall, they’ve got something for you. Walking through this area when they are in full bloom is just unbelievable. Free therapy!
Tropical & Houseplants
This hot and humid greenhouse is home to some of the trendiest plants – and they are jam packed in there. This one can be easy to miss, but just slide the door and let yourself in. Inside you’ll find everything from string of hearts to staghorn ferns, burro’s tail to echeveria. It’s a jungle!
Too Much to See!
This is all I could squeeze in on this visit – but it doesn’t begin to cover it all. There’s tons of ground covers, flowering landscape plants, native grasses, cactus and more. I snapped a photo or two of the beautiful bird of paradise in the covered area – what a specimen!
A couple of final tips: Near the end of the citrus greenhouses, you’ll see a little shack – it’s home to clearance items! I always drop by to see if there is anything I have to have. They also have a wall near the exit with plant care and information sheets, plus details on cats up for adoption. Make sure to take a peek on your way out.
Have you ever been to Mesquite Valley Growers’ Nursery? I would say I’m probably there once or twice a month at least.It’s a great place to stroll around even if you aren’t shopping for plants and the little Peanut and I get a little bit of sunshine in. She was living it up in the tropical greenhouse! Do you have a favorite local spot that I need to visit? Let me know in the comments below – I’d love to hear from you!
