There are countless places you can buy plants in Indianapolis. Below, I’ll share my favorite places to shop for (and sometimes even get plants for free).
Farrell Family Nursery
This family runs a plant nursery from their home with pop-up style sales in the Spring and several times throughout the year. Check their Facebook page for all the updates and sale dates. Their plants are very healthy and affordable, and they have a wide selection of food plants and native plants you won’t find elsewhere like goji berry and jostaberry, for example.
Indianapolis Permaculture Group
This is a local group of permaculture-inspired gardeners and homesteaders in the Indy area who meet once a month and often exchange seeds, cuttings, and starts as well as tons of advice and information about gardening. If there’s a rare plant or food plant you can’t find, chances are someone in this group has it already and may be happy to share!
Indianapolis Gardening Group
With over 10,000 members, this is the largest group of gardeners in Indianapolis. Although sales posts are not allowed in this group, it can be a great place to ask for info on where to buy a certain plant you’re looking for so you don’t have to call around or drive from place to place to find a certain plant.
Rosie’s Gardens and Hughes Landscape
This plant shop takes up several acres and has several thousand plants from ornamentals to food plants to many varieties of fruit, nut, native, and ornamental trees. They also sell landscaping stones, bird baths, garden sculptures, tools, and much more.
Rosie’s also offers a 50% refund for any trees you plant that don’t make it and most fruit trees there cost $60-$80 for 8′ tall trees so it can be a great spot to buy pear, peach, apple, cherry, persimmon, plum, apricot, and other fruit trees.
Rosie’s tends to be VERY busy on weekends so I recommend shopping there on a weekday if you can make it work with your schedule.
Eagle Creek Nursery & Landscape
This nursery is smaller than Rosie’s but still has a great selection. several customers I know rave about their trees and how healthy they are when you buy them there.
Shambhala Farms
This permaculture farm based in Anderson also hosts plant sales with really great deals throughout the year at their home in Broad Ripple. Check their Facebook page for details on plant sales.
Broad Ripple Farmers Market
Every spring, you can buy hundreds of types of seedlings and new plant starts at the Broad Ripple Farmers Market starting the first Saturday in May. The market is open 8am – Noon during May – September.
Big Box Retailers
The last place I would look would be at big box retailers like Lowe’s, Home Depot, Menard’s, Kroger, etc. Sometimes they have sale and great deals at a few spots.