Teas Nursery

After a recent talk with Gretchen I learned that Teas Nursery was going to be closing down soon.
I then bookmarked it and planned a day where I could come out and visit it. Weeks went by and I still hadn’t visited it. Luckily this past weekend I made my way out to Teas.
Sadly it was a sad place. Almost everything was sold, the lot was empty, the plants that remained were dying.
I went ahead and asked some of the employees when the official date would be and they told me it closes Wednesday 12÷23÷09.
Everything is on sale. Lots of plants are 50%+ off.
This rating is of the pure historical value of this place. I’m glad someone has purchased this land and hopefully keeps the history going instead of turning it into some single family homes.

Star Fruit, Satsuma, Olive, MANY varieties of Orange and Grapefruits, Kiwi, Kumquat. That is the short list of fruit-​bearing trees I could remember from my walk through Teas Nursery recently. They have plenty more, and at this time of year most of them are blooming, so they all smell beautifully sweet.
Keep in mind, that is just but one section of five acres for which Teas is known. There are also Rose, Azalea, Plumeria, and Annuals wings.
For those of you unfamiliar with Teas, it is a historical landmark. No, seriously. They have a plaque. Technically the nursery was established in 1843 in Indiana, but moved to Houston (Bellaire) in 1910. Their family home is still on the property.
They began as a nursery specializing in fruit trees and flowering plants, but then moved to landscaping as well. They helped plant most of Houston, including Rice and River Oaks.
As it is springtime, I am in the market for a floral hanging basket. Well, let me back up a bit and rephrase; I recently went to WholeFoods and saw a beautiful lavender-​colored, large blossomed Bouganvilla in a hanging basket. $ 29.95. I immediately remembered that Teas wasn’t terribly far away, and absolutely worth a look-​see.
Upon finding the definitely more-​healthy, larger Bougainvillea ($ 19.95), I thought it better to just get an indoor plant. The bougainvillea was too pretty to leave in a «portable» pot on my back doorstep. I headed to the as I call it «Houston indoors year round tent.» The subtropical area.
Rows after rows of plumeria stubs. I know in a few months, when the outdoor temps and humidity are unbearable, these tropical stubs will have sprouted a few leaves and some gorgeous flowers. As I walked farther into the tent, I approached my plant-​to-​be, a maidenhair fern. Beautifully large and delicate for $ 5.
One thing I noticed and absolutely love about old nurseries are the plants that have replanted themselves in the ground. As I was walking through the tree section, I saw that a number of Impatiens had freed themselves and relocated to a sunnier spot. I also noticed that a Lantana had the same idea. As a perennial, they tend to do that. No idea how long it had been there.
Even if you aren’t in the market for new vegetation, you should definitely go check them out. It’s a lesson in history, the huge corner lot is extremely relaxing, and everything pretty and pretty-​smelling is in bloom.