Garden Center Philadelphia
Hi there. My name is Lauren, and I’m the home and design editor at Philadelphia magazine. Happy spring! Every few weeks I’ll be bringing you the scoop on how to make your home (and garden) cozier, prettier and greener by tapping into the Del Val’s most amazing resources for trends and traditions, indoors and out.
Last weekend, everyone was doing the outside thing. Among this crowd were a few good people (like, uh, me) who realized that our little patios and front windows needed a serious botanical boost. Lucky for us, our region is bursting with amazing vendors, designers and installers of extra-pretty window boxes and container gardens. Here are a few of my favorites.
Terrain at Styer’s, Glen Mills
Leave it to Terrain to design their own containers. My favorite: a black, powder-coated metal window box of cut-out stem and leaf silhouettes ($68). Add a jute liner, plant with a bucolic mix of chartreuse and black vines and grasses, and suddenly you’ve got the prettiest planter on the block. In-store potting costs about $20 per box; landscaping design services available. (And psst: Stay tuned—we hear they’re working on classes that will teach you how to plant your own fit-to-eat veggie garden, so you can feed your family cheaply and greenly, from fresh produce grown right in your backyard.)
914 Baltimore Pike, Glen Mills, 610-459-2400, terrainathome.com
Poppy, Center City
Anne Gould’s sweet, English countryside-inspired flower shop does an amazing job with soft, classic design, mixing beautifully contrasting colors for a cottage-y look in moss- or coco-lined wrought-iron boxes. She’ll also come to your house and plant a mini veggie or herb garden (perfect for home chefs!). Gould sells ready-made boxes (around $175) and offers monthly or quarterly replanting—and, for that matter, entire city gardens.
616 South 6th Street, 215-574-1221, poppyflowershop.com
City Planter, Northern Liberties
Now twice its original size, this urban-chic Northern Liberties spot offers so many ways to green a roof deck, front stoop, or even fire escape. Longtime gardener (and owner) Mary Costello stocks top-of-the-line planters in sustainable plantation-grown teak (from $58), classic copper (from $158), and super-modern fiberglass, available in custom metallics and colors (from $118). They’re all ready and waiting for you to dig in—or are available for delivery, fully planted.
814 North 4th Street, 215-627-6169, cityplanter.com
Handmade Gardens, Downingtown
Rustic and artful, Michael Petrie’s Handmade Gardens makes sure you know how to care for a container. Petrie, a many-time Flower Show winner, emphasizes consistent watering and care and sells an amazingly unobtrusive drip-irrigation system for planters. In stock here: English hayracks with coconut liners, colored glazed terracotta pots, and one-of-a-kind vintage finds—antique tins, old red wagons—that make for the most handmade gardens of all.
320 West Uwchlan Avenue, Downingtown, 610-873-2830, handmadegardens.net
Headhouse Square Farmers’ Market, Center City
Need some potted herbs to plant a container of your own? This Sunday marks the 2009 debut of our favorite city farmers’ market. Head to 2nd Street between Pine and Lombard early (the market’s open 10am to 2pm) to score the freshest of the fresh.
South 2nd Street, between Pine and Lombard
