Garden Center of Tucson

I had a burro y un carro emergency and hoped Garden Center of Tucson would save the day. You see, a few years ago I purchased a good sized ceramic donkey with a cute wooden cart in Nogales, MX for my daughter for Christmas. She and her husband loved that thing and it had a place of honor in their front yard. Sadly some fools thought they had a better home for it and stole it one night not too long ago.
So it’s Christmas and I want to get them another but had no time to go south of the border so I started my search. Went to a few places and couldn’t find anything that would do. L & I stopped in at Garden Center and didn’t find what we wanted although they have some great pieces and a wide variety of artwork.
But then a whole different kind of magic happened. We walked to the very back of the lot where some metal sculptures and rusty items were arranged. The idea of the ass and his wagon quickly flew out of my mind when I saw the perfect gift. I snatched it up (along with a great metal javelina) and a price was quickly negotiated for both pieces.
Christmas morning arrived and I’m happy to say that my offspring was pleased. The funky, metal skeleton dog now adorned the BACK yard of her house.
Garden Center has plenty of trinkets and yard art. I did fall in love with a giant ceramic black & white painted Catrina that I would kill to own but was beyond my price range. I’ll be doing a lot more shopping at Garden Center though.
But I guess a trip across the border still has to be scheduled for the burro.

Very nice selection of pottery and crafts. We stopped off here looking for pottery and ceramics. Decent prices. We picked up a sun god and a butterfly for our backyard. I would come back, especially for the plates and eventually a sink.

I was cruisin’ down Grant on my way home from the Grantstone Supermarket, when I was my first piece of Talaverna pottery… I quickly spun my car around in a u-turn…I didn’t even care that it was pouring rain, I knew I had to explore.
This place is a treasure trove inside and out! It is so much more than a garden store… it has stunning ceramics for inside and outside of your abode. Some of these planters were almost 4ft. tall! Belly pots, campana pots, oval pots, rope pots, square cone pots and bowl pots abound! The pots, some tiles (55 cents-​75 cents), chimenea, large animals and mini animals are all outside wrapping all the way around the building. The star of the show here is the Talaverna pottery, aka happy pottery, because of all the bright and cheerful colors. They have pots, plates, tiles, frogs, owls, parrots, turtles, mini animals, switch plates, murals, house numbers even sinks! How how I coveted the stunning sinks, in their brightly colored cabinets with stunning tiled mirrors. It is my new bathroom concept.
Even more coveted was the taller than me ceramic Talaverna Catrinas (see pic)…I have never ever seen a cooler Dia de muertos item in my life. I swear I think my jaw dropped when I saw them. Jose Guadalupe Posada (the original La Catrina artist) would even fancy these! Pricey though at over 500 dollars.
Fear not if you must have some day of the dead items they have really cool tiles (see pic) for a mere dollar.
In the middle of the store are stunning mirrors covered in milagros, boxes adorned in milagros, crosses decked out in milagros… and near the register a bowl full of milagros! I had no clue, what they were, but I did know, I was into them big time. I ran home and googled them, and I learned they are amulets/​tokens/​usually metal that are physical representations of a prayer or to give thanks ie: if I had a broken hand, I would give a hand shaped milagro to pray for my healing… it my new thing fo sho!
There is a nice selection of metal and concrete tiled patio sets and benches. Giant metal bobble head ardvarks are outside off to a corner. Inside there are really cool paper flowers.
Price range 10 cents– 600 smackers… kinda a big range.

i highly recommend mexican garden for great outdoor pottery deals and unique home décor. they’re just as economical as going to nogales, without having to go to nogales.
they have mexican pottery, talavera, mexican tile, day of the dead tchotchkes, garden furniture, cacti and succulents, as well as other home accessories – all competetively priced. they are incredibly helpful and can do custom orders and metalwork. we had them make wrought iron windows for our outdoor wall and have received many compliments. they matched the pattern of an existing gate we had, all the while working with us to ensure our order was timely and done to spec.
give these guys a shot! you’ll be pleasantly surprised.