Flowers and plants in Palo Alto

For a city with so many gardens, Palo Alto has few places that sell plants and flowers. Our directory lists one garden center and one florist inside city limits. That is the honest picture. It is also fewer than the eight stores a guide like this would usually cover. The gaps are filled by grocery stores with good flower stands, two year-round farmers markets and a few nonprofits and events that sell or plant for the community.

This page groups all of them by area with a neutral description and a link to each directory listing, where you will find phone numbers and hours. We do not rank shops or discuss prices. Flower shops and nurseries keep seasonal hours, so check a listing before you set out.

The two specialists

• SummerWinds Nursery: a garden center at 725 San Antonio Road in south Palo Alto, on the site since 1960, with California natives, edibles, houseplants, succulents and pottery.
• Village Flower Shoppe: a family-owned florist at 2237 El Camino Real taking phone and web orders, with same-day local delivery, sympathy flowers and wedding work.

SummerWinds Nursery

The nursery opened here in 1960 under the Woolworth Nurseries banner and took the SummerWinds name in 2002. It sits behind the corner of San Antonio and Middlefield roads, so look for it set back from the intersection. Departments include California native plants, perennials, bedding plants for seasonal color, specimen shrubs, houseplants, succulents and organic vegetable and herb starts. Several departments have a named staff expert you can ask for. The store also sells outdoor pottery and organic garden products, takes special orders and offers contractor services for landscapers.

SummerWinds guarantees its plants when customers follow the care steps its staff recommend, so ask for instructions at the register. Its gift cards work at any of its California stores. The nearest sister stores are in Cupertino and Campbell if the Palo Alto store is out of something.

Village Flower Shoppe

OpenStreetMap and some directories spell the name Village Flower Shop, but the business itself uses Shoppe. It works differently from a walk-in flower stand. Orders come in by phone and through its website. Visits to the shop are by appointment. Its website lists short weekday hours and closed weekends, so check the shop's site before calling.

The shop delivers the same day in Palo Alto for orders placed before noon. It also lists delivery to East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Portola Valley, Redwood City and Woodside. Sympathy work is a large part of the business, with daily deliveries to local funeral homes and hospitals. It also takes custom wedding and party orders.

Cut flowers at grocery stores

For a walk-in bouquet, the city's grocers are the practical answer. Three in our directory list fresh-cut flowers.

• Trader Joe's: the Town & Country Village store on El Camino Real, a chain grocery that highlights its fresh flowers along with cheese and wine.
• Piazza's Fine Foods: a family-run grocery in the Charleston Shopping Center on Middlefield Road, founded in 1979, with flowers on its full weekly list.
• Sigona's Farmers Market: a family-owned produce and specialty food market at Stanford Shopping Center that lists fresh-cut flowers among its departments.

These suit a dinner host gift or a last-minute bunch for the kitchen table. For an arrangement with a card and delivery, a florist is still the better choice. Our groceries and specialty food guide covers these stores in more detail. A stop at Town & Country Village pairs a flower run with lunch.

Farmers markets

Palo Alto has two farmers markets and both run year-round. The downtown market sets up on Saturday mornings and the California Avenue market runs on Sundays. Vendors change with the season, so the mix of flowers, potted herbs and vegetable starts varies from week to week. Our farmers markets guide has locations and hours. Arrive early on a spring weekend if you want the best choice of seedlings.

Community plant sales and trees

Two local nonprofits put plants in Palo Alto hands in a different way.

• Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden: the historic garden in Old Palo Alto holds a Spring Tour of private gardens each April. The ticket includes a marketplace at Gamble Garden with vendors and a plant sale.
• Canopy: a Palo Alto nonprofit that plants and cares for street and yard trees, runs free tree walks on select Saturdays and organizes volunteer plantings.

Canopy says it has planted more than 1,000 trees in south Palo Alto with the city since 2016. If you want a street tree in front of your home, start there rather than at a nursery. Our guide to trees and the urban forest covers the city's street trees.

Flowers for a hospital visit

• Stanford Health Care gift shop: the gift shop at Stanford Hospital, which sells faux flowers and plants, balloons, books and comfort items, with online ordering and pickup.

Some hospital units restrict fresh flowers. The gift shop's faux arrangements avoid that question. Village Flower Shoppe also delivers to local hospitals and can confirm the rules when you order. Our guide to visiting Stanford Hospital covers parking and visitor policies.

Flowers and plants through the year

Palo Alto's mild climate means something is always in season, but the shopping calendar has clear peaks. Late winter is the time for bare-root fruit trees and roses at a nursery, along with early camellias. Spring brings the widest choice of vegetable starts, perennials and natives, which is why April weekends at a garden center are busy. It is also when the Gamble Garden tour and its plant sale take place.

Summer is the season for herbs, tomatoes and drought-tolerant succulents. Fall is the best planting season for California natives, because the first rains help roots settle before the next dry summer. Ask nursery staff about timing for your yard. Indoor plants sell year-round and make a practical gift for a new apartment, especially for students moving in near Stanford in September.

Cut flowers follow the holidays. Demand peaks around Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Stanford commencement in June, then again in December. Order a delivered arrangement several days ahead at those times.

Choosing where to go

When spring arrives, the foothills put on their own show for free. Our wildflowers guide lists where to see poppies and lupine on the trails above town.

Frequently asked questions