The 2010 GCA Summer Tour concluded Wednesday with visits to more of Florida’s premier “plant places,” including a couple of upscale garden centers, Lukas Nursery & Garden Shop and Palmers Garden and Goods.
*** Lukas Nursery in Oviedo, Fla., has been family-owned for four generations and is probably most noted for its Butterfly Encounter. This 4,000-square-foot conservatory is billed as the only year-round butterfly conservatory in Central Florida. During its peak season it features up to 30 different species of butterflies, and around 20,000 people attend the Butterfly Encounter each year.
Lukas Nursery also offers a large selection of landscape, patio and indoor plants, along with a pottery barn that features dozens of types and sizes of potter containers. The store also prides itself on its special events and promotions, which include: Orchid shows, an annual azalea sale, an annual crepe myrtle sale, a special summer “Buy 1 Get 1 Shade Tree Sale,” a Black Friday sale and the Butterfly & Nature Festival & Art Show, which ties in with the Butterfly Encounter.
*** Palmer’s Garden and Goods has occupied the property at 2611 Corrine Dr. in Orlando, Fla., since 2002. For those unfamiliar with the area, that’s a stones’ throw from the famed Harry P. Leu Gardens, the city-owned botanical haven that is rich in history – and richer in some of the more elegant plant collections in the country.
The key word there is “rich,” just as that’s the key benefit to Palmer’s location. The entire area features affluent residents – some in one of the newer parts of Orlando, Baldwin Park, and others in four prime-target-demographic neighborhoods that surround the store. As might be expected for such a neighborhood, Palmer’s Garden and Goods delivers the goods by way of an historic garden center (some kind of nursery has operated on the property since the 1920s) and a landscaping service that offers consultation, installation, delivery, lawn and shrub maintenance, and potting services.
All that said, Palmer’s hallmark is probably its container gardening expertise, which starts with outstanding plants and segues to an appealing collection and variety of planter options.