Rillito Nursery & Garden Center

With a new house and moved from Oregon, we had no idea about desert planting and what to do. Dave and Beth, owners of Rillito were fantastic people who took a sincere interest in helping us. They did and we are great full with beautiful planting s and a spectaculare backyard. We are now regulars and couldn’t be happier in our new desert environment. Thank you Beth and Dave.

Beautiful grounds and display! We came to browse and really enjoyed our time here. They have sections for different types of plants, low water and flowering and edible. There is even a water section with a cute pond.
The staff was helpful and showed us around. The prices are a bit high. I will be returning to find special plants for my home.

Most of what I bought there died. They didn’t stand behind the product and told me they would give a 10% discount if I bought more plants. I didn’t do it. They were very arrogant about it. So I left and I got the same plants for half the price at Home Depot and they are doing great. They guarantee the plants too. At least if they die it will only be half the cost and they will give me more.

I always found the staff here to be knowledgeable, helpful and friendly including the men that come out to plant your purchases for you. I love the service of coming to my home and removing old growth and planting new trees, shrubs, what have you and the men doing it knowing what they are doing. Highly recommended!

A befuddled, new gardener am I, working to turn my black thumb a lighter shade of brown.
I just recently began my gardening adventure which consists of fruits and vegetables in containers on my front porch. My tomatoes started looking a little sad and I was concerned when changing the sun exposure and watering schedule didn’t help. I clipped off a bit of the plant and took it to Rillito to ask for help. Chelsea was at the front counter when I walked in on a late Sunday afternoon and she asked several questions and then pulled out a big book and flipped to the tomato pages where she showed me a plant infected with a particular virus and said she thought maybe that was my trouble. She offered to show one of her botanist friends and call me the next day.
Well the verdict is still out on the virus but when I got my return call the woman asked a few more questions and determined it was the soil mixture they were sitting in and and advised me on how to properly care for my plants.
Both Chelsea and this other woman knew I had purchased all my plants at another nursery but cared enough to help me out. Green… or brown… thumbs up!

I bought over $ 200 worth of plants and pots here over a course of two weeks and won’t ever go back. The woman at the front isn’t the most knowledgeable when asked about light/​water needs. More importantly, after buying a dozen of their bamboo pots and watching them crack and break after less than a month of use and being offered nothing more than the same defective pots at my expense, I would say their customer service is rather poor. The pots state that they biodegrade after YEARS, not weeks. The woman on the phone, Ingrid, suggested that watering the plants was what made the pots break down… really!!! Ummm, if you have a pot, and you put a plant in it, it NEEDS water to live. What good is a plant pot that you can’t put a watered plant into?! She also told me «you knew they were biodegradable»…I sure did, the label says biodegradable after SEVERAL YEARS, NOT several weeks. Being told I can buy more at my own expense is typical Tucson customer service. I won’t be going back here and will just go to the nursery at the big box store down the street where I will at least be able to get my money back if I get defective merchandise.

I have come here a couple time for some plants. Ocassionally just to browse. The staff is friendly and extremely knowledgable on their greens. They have helped us with a bug problem and offered a great solution that worked the first time. I have never been pushed to purchase anything — they are just happy to see smiling faces. And trust me, walking around their rose garden is hard to not have a smile on your face. I bet they have 30+ rose bush selection. My favorite are the English roses — and I can never pick my favorite color.

Stopped here looking for a few things, and was befuddled by the mix of staff (some clueless, some almost rude, some nice). I wanted a cheap tomato cage and all they had were $ 15 coated ones — the almost rude salesperson said those are better because they last more than one season (the others don’t last? News to me). Someone told me where to find the tomato plants, but made no effort to walk me to them. I’m used to the huge selection and very knowledgeable staff at Mesquite Valley Growers or Magic Garden, and this operation seemed amateur in comparison. I won’t be back. Will stop short of relaying the rest of the conversation with the almost rude salesperson, but suffice to say that I wasn’t impressed.

I am a big fan of this place. It is like going to a botanical garden where you can buy everything. OK maybe its not just like that but it is a nice place to go and browse around if you know you want to buy something that grows but you are not sure what. Their citrus trees all had fruit on them. I had a lemon tree for four years and I have not been able to get a lemon. This winter it finally froze so now I can pull it out and go buy one of these trees. They also deliver in the area for $ 25.00 which is nice when you buy a tree that is too big for the minivan.

I’ve been shopping there for twenty years, I think, and they have always been super helpful, even when I come in with weird requests. Staff are very knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. They listen when I say I wish they carried this or that, and eventually it always shows up! And they remember their customers and know what they use and what they might like. Love those folk, love that nursery!

Great selection of trees (citrus and other), flowers, shrubs, bushes, and everything else you would need for your backyard. They typically cater to landscapers, so they have a big selection of large plants. Everyone there was very helpful and knowledgable and we were able to get delivery ($ 25) for the next day with no problem. Now we’ll just have to see if the plants can survive in Tucson!