North Scottsdale Nursery and Cactus

After the bait and switch they pulled on planning charges I will take my cactus needs elsewhere.
After I purchased the plants and they were delivered and planted. I then received a call four days later for planning charges. I was never told this upfront. Without some sort of estimate who would leave charges like that open ended.
They have good products however out of principle I would not purchase from them.
After spending almost $ 1000 and feeling ripped off it’s unfortunate. I had plans on purchasing a Swaro and several thousand dollars worth of product on top of what I already purchased.

I love this place. The staff is always super knowledgable and friendly. A friend bought me a few plants for a hostess gift and I brought them here to pot for me and they were so nice about it. I was a bit hesitant because I didn’t buy the plants there but everyone was so kind and didn’t make me feel silly at all. I wound up picking up another cactus and pot while I was waiting. I can’t wait to go back as I grow my cactus collection.
They’re also very reasonably priced.
I highly recommend to all!

Stopped in to buy a «pet» cactus for our small patio. Very helpful and friendly staff, even if our purchase was relatively small compared to what they largely sell. Staff was enthusiastic about answering our questions about any of the cacti they had on location. Found a lot of small cacti suited for traveling at very fair prices.

I am new to the area and pass this place every day on my way to and from home. I was impressed by the variety of heat resistant and drought friendly plants on display. On my first visit I purchased a jade type indoor plant. The staff member was friendly and appeared knowledgeable as she described for me the care the plant required. Once home I followed her instructions to the letter. Within a week the leaves turned black and soon the plant dropped all its leaves. It died a horrible death.
Still I returned to the nursery and purchased two lantana plants, two bougainvillea plants and several cacti and succulents. I inquired about their warranty and explained my experience with the jade. The employee clucked his tongue sympathetically and told me they had a policy of warranting only the plants they installed. Once you make a purchase there’s no guarantee the plant would survive. Silly me. Knowing this I still completed my purchase. It’s been just over two weeks and the lantana plants are shriveled up like weeds gasping their last breathe. One of the succulents is on its last leg. What a waste of time and money. I could kick myself in the pants for being so foolish. On the other hand I purchased several lantana, bougainvillea, and agave plants from Home Depot for half the money and they are thriving and look beautiful in my courtyard.
Stay away from North Scottsdale Nursery and Cactus. They are overpriced, their plants, while appearing healthy, are stressed and will not survive. Try Home Depot. Their prices are the best in town. Their plants are healthy and they guarantee your purchase.

I guess with nurseries it tends to be hit or miss, and for me this one was a big miss.
To preface this, I live far, far away from this place. We’re talking 30 minute drive, minimum. So trying to be the cautious and careful consumer, I phone ahead to ask about the exact species and variety of cactus of I am looking for. The person purportedly checked and confirms. I tell them I am not looking for the typical variegated agave, but a very particular kind that is distinctly different. He assures me that they do have the one i am talking about. OK.
So after four days of waiting for an opening in my schedule, I finally jaunt down there today to scope it out. What do I find? Sure enough, no sign of the agave in question. After gawking around foolishly for a while, I end up asking someone. I tell her what I’m looking for, she takes me to the area I just finished searching through. Sigh.
After having to explain, again, that I am not looking for the ones they have, this staffer admits to me that no, they don’t have that and apparently never did. Strike one.
To save some measure of face and make up for the farce, I pick up a small agave of another variety. Take it inside to pay and I have to wait a while for someone to show up. I can forgive that, to a point, and at least we were out of the sun. Then we run into another issue –they can’t seem to process the transaction on their machine. No less than three people were involved in this debacle, at one point or another. Strike two.
At the end, the transaction was finally made to go through, but what a headache. No sincere apology for the cluster, the waste of my time in dealing with it, to say nothing of the waste of time in driving across town for a plant that wasn’t there. Not even a hint of a discount to save some face after all this hassle. Strike three.
I notice a pattern where the folks gushing about this place seem to focus on the cats and, near as I can tell, most haven’t actually attempted to purchase anything from these folks. After my experience, I can see why. And yes, we did see some cats. Doesn’t make up for lack of knowledge about your own inventory, inability to run a card transaction and wasting your customer’s time.
Never again.

To put it shortly, rude employees, overpriced items, and misleading signs.
My parents are new to the Scottsdale area — we’re originally from California — and since my siblings and I are visiting for the holiday season we decided to decorate a cactus. My dad and I drove over to read their sign declaring, «Open from 8am to 4pm everyday.»
«Everyday,» it seems, except the days they don’t feel like it. We showed up around 2:50, hopped out of the car, and started looking at the cactuses. First of all, they were quite expensive. Definitely not in our budget and, according to my parents who have now lived here for a couple months, more pricey than they’ve seen other places.
We’d been out of the car, and surprised by the prices, for barely a minute when an employee comes rushing over, declaring (quite rudely, I might add) that they were closed. We pointed that the sign said they were open until four, and the employee gave us a vague answer, «you know, with the rain, and uh, Christmas… Anyway, we’re closed so… But we’ll be open at 8am sharp tomorrow!»
Admittedly, it had been raining — but about an hour earlier! It was still a little cloudy but with no signs of future rain. And if Christmas was the reason they were closing, then why be open tomorrow?
Quick side note, this is not the first time I’ve gone somewhere in this area only to see they have close well before the time they claim they would. Maybe it’s the norm here? Still, how can people expect to get business if they’re closed?
Sir, you may be there at «8am sharp» tomorrow, but we certainly won’t be. Or ever again.

It’s kinda cool to go to a nursery in another part of the US… we live in Sacramento, so the nurseries here definitely have different plants for our different climate. That, of course, makes sense, right?
We stopped in the fine establishment, because it’s fun to look around nurseries (I think so, anyway), and we had passed it several times going back and forth from our relatives’ home in North Scottsdale. I have to say, I love the landscape of this area, and love all the different succulents and cacti offered. Plus, being here in March after all the rain/​snow that occurred the weeks before our visit, it caused the local and nursery plants to bloom beautifully.
Anyway, couldn’t buy anything, since taking a cactus on a plane back to Sacramento probably would have been frowned upon.
Only bummer is that I didn’t see the kitties that Neal D. Unilocaled about :(I love kitties! But that didn’t take away from what a great nursery this is…