(Photo illustration by Diana Ramirez / De Los; photos by Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times, Christina House / Los Angeles Times, Silvia Razgova / For The Times)
10 best Latino-owned plant stores in L.A.
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Green thumb or not, L.A.’s plant stores offer something for everyone — from historic plant nurseries to one-of-a-kind terrariums and midday greenhouse DJ sets.
From the beginner-friendly Prop House Plants in San Pedro to the community-driven Plant Chica in South Central or even Torrance’s backyard greenhouse Plant Choto, each shop carries a vast selection of houseplants, trees, shrubs, vines and more.
Whether you are looking to fill that sunny living room corner, repot a well-loved monstera or find a low-maintenance succulent, these are the best Latino-owned nurseries, garden centers and greenhouses to check out.
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(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Plantiitas
Long Beach Plant Shop
In a strip of boutique shops on Long Beach’s East 4th Street sits Plantiitas, a queer- and Latino-owned plant shop founded by Kevin Alcaraz and Anthony Diaz. Alcaraz immigrated from Mexico when he was 18 and Diaz is a first-generation Mexican American from Southeast L.A.
The couple quickly leaned into their roles as plant parents during the pandemic, profiting from Facebook sales and eventually a makeshift storefront out of Diaz’s garage. Their venture was successful enough to open a bricks-and-mortar store in 2020, and Plantiitas was born.
Aside from the assortment of calatheas, pothos and oxalis triangularis — most of which are sourced from San Diego nurseries — their priority is to create a community center where all are welcome, a reminder that is written on the wall to greet customers as they step through the rainbow swirl-painted entrance: “Para Todos Sale el Sol.”
The couple quickly leaned into their roles as plant parents during the pandemic, profiting from Facebook sales and eventually a makeshift storefront out of Diaz’s garage. Their venture was successful enough to open a bricks-and-mortar store in 2020, and Plantiitas was born.
Aside from the assortment of calatheas, pothos and oxalis triangularis — most of which are sourced from San Diego nurseries — their priority is to create a community center where all are welcome, a reminder that is written on the wall to greet customers as they step through the rainbow swirl-painted entrance: “Para Todos Sale el Sol.”
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(Silvia Razgova / For The Times)
Pasadena Roots
Pasadena Plant Shop
Plants were always a part of Wendy Alvarado and her siblings’ upbringing. As they moved from one childhood home to the next, they found comfort in the houseplants. Plant care and their Guatemalan culture is a foundation instilled by their parents and the shop’s co-owners, Vilma and Edwin, who migrated from Guatemala City more than 25 years ago.
What initially started as a mobile nursery in a peach-colored cargo trailer named La Chula has since turned into a storefront in Pasadena, a two-story boutique shared with brother Edwin Jr.’s phone repair shop. In addition to the shelves of long luscious pothos, snake plants and hanging vegetation, the store features a grab-and-go and coffee cart.
What initially started as a mobile nursery in a peach-colored cargo trailer named La Chula has since turned into a storefront in Pasadena, a two-story boutique shared with brother Edwin Jr.’s phone repair shop. In addition to the shelves of long luscious pothos, snake plants and hanging vegetation, the store features a grab-and-go and coffee cart.
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(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Prop House Plants
San Pedro Plant Shop
Specializing in beginner-friendly indoor plants, Prop House Plants carries a wide inventory of pothos, monsteras, hoyas and owner Brittany Montero’s personal favorite — philodendron. Prop House Plants sends each buyer home with a plant card that details the amount of watering, light and humidity required.
After bonding with her brother, Jose, over plants during the pandemic, Montero founded the shop in October 2022.
Brittany, with Cuban and Ecuadorean roots, credits both of her grandmothers for her green thumb. She says they maintained beautiful flourishing gardens when she was a kid. Growing up in the low-income neighborhoods of Hawthorne and Lawndale, she remembers how her Cuban grandmother’s house stood out for its vibrant greenery.
After bonding with her brother, Jose, over plants during the pandemic, Montero founded the shop in October 2022.
Brittany, with Cuban and Ecuadorean roots, credits both of her grandmothers for her green thumb. She says they maintained beautiful flourishing gardens when she was a kid. Growing up in the low-income neighborhoods of Hawthorne and Lawndale, she remembers how her Cuban grandmother’s house stood out for its vibrant greenery.
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(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Avalon Nursery & Ceramics
South Park Plant Shop
In its earliest form, the storefront of Avalon Nursery & Ceramics was minimal. It started out of Maria Lopez’s open car trunk sitting under a shade cloth in a South L.A. parking lot.
Before purchasing a lot on the corner of Avalon Boulevard and 54th Street in 1987, Lopez was schooled in the plant game by her older sister, Ofelia Hurtado, who had similarly sold ferns and flowers out of her car’s trunk for years and knew where to get them wholesale.
After 37 years in business, Lopez is still going strong as the oldest plant nursery in South L.A., described by both her children and grandchildren as a “jungle,” packed to the brim with fruit trees, rose bushes, organic soils, plant foods and ceramic pots.
Before purchasing a lot on the corner of Avalon Boulevard and 54th Street in 1987, Lopez was schooled in the plant game by her older sister, Ofelia Hurtado, who had similarly sold ferns and flowers out of her car’s trunk for years and knew where to get them wholesale.
After 37 years in business, Lopez is still going strong as the oldest plant nursery in South L.A., described by both her children and grandchildren as a “jungle,” packed to the brim with fruit trees, rose bushes, organic soils, plant foods and ceramic pots.
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(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Lincoln Avenue Nursery
Pasadena Plant Shop
Years before he purchased the business from the tenured owners at Lincoln Avenue Nursery in 2003, Ramon Franco was a contract landscaper and regular customer at the Japanese family’s shop. Thinking like a landscaper, he remodeled and stocked the business to better fit the needs of people in the field, with vegetation such as boxwood topiary plants, maple trees and various breeds of myrtle trees.
The 1.8 acres of land that the nursery encompasses means there’s something for every plant lover, from herbs and vegetables to bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae) or white Natchez crape myrtle, which Franco sources locally and from neighboring states.
His fascination with plants as a child followed him from Poncitlán, Jalisco, when he migrated to the U.S. at the age of 14. After more than 20 years in business, he hopes to pass Lincoln Avenue Nursery down to his daughter and son, who help run the shop.
The 1.8 acres of land that the nursery encompasses means there’s something for every plant lover, from herbs and vegetables to bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae) or white Natchez crape myrtle, which Franco sources locally and from neighboring states.
His fascination with plants as a child followed him from Poncitlán, Jalisco, when he migrated to the U.S. at the age of 14. After more than 20 years in business, he hopes to pass Lincoln Avenue Nursery down to his daughter and son, who help run the shop.
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(Nayeli Huerta / For The Times)
EnCactusar
Plant Shop
Sweet talk, flattery and seduction. That’s how nursery owner Julio Toruño and wife Jackie feel about cactuses and succulents. It’s the reason they named their home nursery EnCactusar, a play on words that includes engatusar — to be persuaded or encouraged by something. The Toruños opened up shop during the pandemic, using their home in Boyle Heights as a storefront, but have since switched to Etsy sales as they build their new website and home nursery in South L.A.
Julio credits his love for horticulture to his Nicaraguan roots. He was born and raised in the northern mountainous region of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, until he migrated to the U.S. at the age of 6. His family were coffee and agricultural farmers and instilled in him love of the land. EnCactusar propagates, pollinates and grows most of its inventory and sources other plants from local Southern California growers.
Julio credits his love for horticulture to his Nicaraguan roots. He was born and raised in the northern mountainous region of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, until he migrated to the U.S. at the age of 6. His family were coffee and agricultural farmers and instilled in him love of the land. EnCactusar propagates, pollinates and grows most of its inventory and sources other plants from local Southern California growers.
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(Martina Ibañez-Baldor / Los Angeles Times)
Latinx With Plants
Boyle Heights Plant Shop
Ever since she was a little girl, Andi Xoch dreamed of having her own jungle-themed clubhouse. The Northeast L.A.-born owner never imagined that three decades later she would have the creative freedom and resources to make her dreams a reality with Latinx With Plants.
Xoch personalized her Boyle Heights space to include her community’s culture with molcajete- and vaquero-style bota floral arrangements and merch. The vibrant turmeric and teal walls are complemented by shelves of Alocasia polly, snake plants, ZZ plants and plenty of other species.
Visitors are greeted at the door by a mural of what Xoch calls “Covid-Tonantzin,” a Nahuatl painting of the Virgen de Guadalupe with a mask, a callback to the times of social distancing, when Latinx With Plants opened in August 2020.
Xoch personalized her Boyle Heights space to include her community’s culture with molcajete- and vaquero-style bota floral arrangements and merch. The vibrant turmeric and teal walls are complemented by shelves of Alocasia polly, snake plants, ZZ plants and plenty of other species.
Visitors are greeted at the door by a mural of what Xoch calls “Covid-Tonantzin,” a Nahuatl painting of the Virgen de Guadalupe with a mask, a callback to the times of social distancing, when Latinx With Plants opened in August 2020.
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(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
The Juicy Leaf
Glassell Park Plant Shop
The Juicy Leaf in Glassell Park specializes in custom terrariums, succulent arrangements and a variety of indoor and outdoor plants. From common cactus to rare tropical plants like the watermelon pepperomia (Peperomia argyreia) and dragon plant (Dracaena marginata), Juicy Leaf’s inventory is never lacking.
Owner Felix Navarro grew up gardening alongside his mom and grandma in Texas and channeled the same passion to open up his first bricks-and-mortar store in Venice in 2009. He moved the store to Glassell Park in 2016.
Owner Felix Navarro grew up gardening alongside his mom and grandma in Texas and channeled the same passion to open up his first bricks-and-mortar store in Venice in 2009. He moved the store to Glassell Park in 2016.
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(Wesley Lapointe / Los Angeles Times)
The Plant Chica
Leimert Park Plant Shop
From street corners to an old auto shop and now a garden space, the Plant Chica has been curating plant selections in South L.A. since 2018. Owned by married couple Sandra Mejia and Bantalem Adis, the focus of the shop and greenhouse is to build community through its greenery. After relocating from their first location in 2022 as part of a redevelopment project, they settled into their new Leimert Park spot last October.
In hosting events like their Full Moon Repotting, where shoppers can get their plants repotted with no fee; Adopt a Plant, where every customer leaves with a free plant; and Community Wellness Day, where local yoga studios and florists host various workshops, the couple has continued fostering the same sense of community they had previously ignited.
As for their plant selection, they have everything from the typical sun-loving houseplants to pet-friendly hanging plants and even a low-maintenance care section. The store is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In hosting events like their Full Moon Repotting, where shoppers can get their plants repotted with no fee; Adopt a Plant, where every customer leaves with a free plant; and Community Wellness Day, where local yoga studios and florists host various workshops, the couple has continued fostering the same sense of community they had previously ignited.
As for their plant selection, they have everything from the typical sun-loving houseplants to pet-friendly hanging plants and even a low-maintenance care section. The store is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Plants Choto
Plant Shop
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Torrance-based couple Betty and Daniel Choto decided to build a greenhouse in their backyard. Now, several years later, Plants Choto is a licensed nursery selling tropical plants online and at local pop-up plant markets.
The Choto children, Jacob and Daniella, help run the business, which offers a variety of both exotic aroids and low-maintenance greenery — perfect for gardeners of all skill levels. Although most sales are via their Instagram page and the virtual marketplace app Whatnot, they occasionally open the greenhouse for an in-person shopping experience.
The Choto children, Jacob and Daniella, help run the business, which offers a variety of both exotic aroids and low-maintenance greenery — perfect for gardeners of all skill levels. Although most sales are via their Instagram page and the virtual marketplace app Whatnot, they occasionally open the greenhouse for an in-person shopping experience.
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