Tucked away in Groveland, Green Isle Gardens is a Florida native landscapers dream nursery. In my opinion it is the largest and most trustworthy native nursery supplying Central Florida. Here you can find one of the most diverse and largest inventories of Florida native plants. Almost 1 hour and 15 minutes from me, I willingly make the drive to this nursery for plants that I install in my client's gardens. Not only do they have such a diverse inventory of native plants, but the staff are very knowledgeable in the identification and growth habits of the plants they sell.

Located off Florida State Road 33, this nursery is on a beautiful piece of property. In the past year, they have done tremendous work designing a welcoming area of native plants next to the parking lot. Upon arrival, you are greeted by a new pergola surrounded by native plants. Not only is this a nice greeting to begin your experience at this nursery, but it provides examples on how to use their native plants in your own landscape.

Beyond this entrance are rows and rows of native plants set out on display for you to purchase. This nursery does a decent job of marking their plants with the common names and the botanical names of the plants to assist you in identifying their plants prior to purchase. Often times, the markers also contain information on the growth habits, preferred location, and uses of the plant they identify.

Closest to the parking lot, you will find rows and rows of native plants that are often bought in bulk. These plants include Dune Sunflower, Coreopsis, Sunshine Mimosa, Gopher Apple, Tropical Sage, Frogfruit, Black-Eyed Susans, among others. To the left you will find more plants in smaller quantities for more specialized landscaped uses. They also have an area covered in cloth where they keep native plants that need a bit more shade.

As you pass the entrance and move your way toward the back, you will find their office. It is a small building where staff can enjoy a moment in air conditioning while being ready to answer any questions you may have. This is also the location where you will checkout once you have the plants you wish to buy. There are quite a few carts readily available for you to take with you on your journey throughout the nursery, so you do not have to carry your chosen plants around.

Behind the office you will find even more plants. This part of the nursery includes their aquatic native plants and a screened in area where they store some of their butterfly host plants - native milkweeds and native passionvines. This area also includes vines, shrubs, and even native trees.

Green Isle Gardens offers affordable retail prices on their plants. Most of their 1-gallon plants are around $6.50 at the time of this review. If you are a member of the Florida Native Plant Society, I believe they offer a 10% discount. For registered nursery stock dealers, they do offer wholesale on most of their plants. They will do their best to honor wholesale prices as long as they have enough inventory of the plant to sell wholesale. If you are eligible for tax free wholesale they honor that as well. For large orders, wholesale buyers can call ahead and have their order separated to expedite pickup.

One of my favorite things about this nursery is their constant commitment to selling Florida natives without using herbicides and pesticides. This is especially important when buying host plants for butterflies. There are many other nurseries that spray their plants to preserve the plants so that they sell with good looking foliage. Green Isle Gardens is not one of those nurseries! Recently they have begun supplying a nursery much closer to me. Meaning I could have quicker and easier access to their native plants. But, I have heard numerous reports that the nursery closer to me sprays the plants almost immediately upon arrival. So, I continue to make the long drive out to Green Isle Gardens for plants that I can trust will be pesticide and herbicide free.

This nursery is the one I buy wholesale from to supply my clients with the best native plants available. This is also where we buy wholesale plants from that we sell on our online store and Facebook page. When you buy from us you are buying the quality of this great nursery! Our goal is to help bring trustworthy native plants closer to the Eastern Central Florida area. Not everyone can make the journey out to Groveland for this nursery's excellent native plants. So, when you buy from us, know that you are buying authentic spray-free plants from one of the state's most trusted native nurseries.