Reese's Plants, Blythewood

Philip Reese always looks forward to summer, a time when local lawns transform into green canvases for the pointillism of bright flowers and the watercolor strokes of a tree blowing in the breeze. For more than 25 years, his nursery has helped lawns—and even cubicles and windowsills—achieve this artful metamorphosis by sourcing more than 600 varieties of indoor and outdoor plants. Seasonal plants, from summer’s fragrant flowers to fall’s fresh herbs, ship in batches from the greenhouse’s central Florida office, which has access to more than 8,000 nurseries and some of the healthiest known plants in the Milky Way. The nursery also raises landscape plants ranging from 4-inch shrubs to 16-foot palm trees.

In addition to their verdant inventory, Reese’s Plants is dedicated to assembling a staff of green-thumbed folks who can help customers plant container gardens, design landscapes, and troubleshoot plant woes. They also watch over a stock of rental plants, which they've lent out to such notable events as the South Carolina Governor’s Inaugural Ball, the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1987, and the annual gala for honeybees.:m]]