I cannot say enough good things about Fertile Garden Center! From the moment I walked in, the staff were incredibly knowledgeable and friendly, exactly what you want when you're trying to figure out the right plants for your space. Darrel in particular went above and beyond. I was looking for flowers and plants for my balcony, and he took the time to walk me through everything: which plants would be safe for my dog (non-toxic was a must!), what would actually thrive given my balcony's sun exposure, and which options would be low-maintenance when it comes to bugs. It honestly felt like a mini plant class, and I left feeling so much more confident about what I was buying. On top of that, I brought in my orchid that I genuinely thought was a goner. Darrel and the team took a look at it that same day and managed to revive it! I was shocked and so grateful. After years of buying plants from the big box stores, I'm never going back. Fertile Garden Center actually cares about helping you succeed with your plants, not just making a sale. Highly recommend, and I'll definitely be coming back. And the speak Spanish!! read more

Fertile Garden Center - As soon as we planted. - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I like coming here for the selection and to support a small business instead of big box store. But I have to agree with other reviewers, the staff here can be off putting. Anytime I ask questions they just repeat what's on the care tag. They don't seem passionate about gardening and make the whole interaction uncomfortable. read more

I was expecting a bad experience because I had to ask for help and I wasn't greeted until I acknowledged the staff first. Ordinarily, in those circumstances-I Flee. Upon entering the outside area I saw many amazingly, well kept plants and flowers. Large selection to choose from and the time turned into a wonderful experience. I purchased three plants for a bit over $400. A large tree like plant and two medium size plants. The prices felt expensive but having no plant knowledge I wasn't sure, but I also didn't walk in asking for price limits either. I had so much help picking out the perfect, easy to maintain plants. The staff ended up being the kindest, with extreme patience and All I came in asking for was something with very low maintenance. Don't miss out on the opportunity to buy your perfect, well kept plants and leave with tons of smiles. read more

We have used them a few times, and they have done such beautiful arrangements for our home. They will come to you home and do your planters, window boxes, etc., on site. It is extremely convenient, and their arrangements last for months!! Excellent customer service, responses via phone and email, and overall great to work with. Very satisfied. read more

What a surprise!!! Accidentally drove by and what a lovely spot!! Everything was just beautiful!! Thank you!! read more

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It's my goal to visit every plant shop in Chicago this spring summer. This was stop 7. Customer service was great. I was acknowledged and offered help. They have ample amount of spring flowers and a decent amount of indoor plants. They seemed vibrant and busy. As someone who is looking for unique indoor plants beyond the typical, this store did not meet such expectations. I gave them the name of what I was looking for and they had never heard of that plant. It is a nice store with nice workers. read more

Fertile Garden Center - Outdoors - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The woman who I assume owns the store is amazingly rude and has caused me to never go here again. Shame on me for all of these years of trying to support a local business. Recently had an issue with some products from them, politely asked if there was any way to return or be compensated but was berated and talked down to. Not worth it, go somewhere where your business is appreciated. read more

Beautiful selection with a parking lot just off the back alley. And such kind people working there. I love that we have such a beautiful, locally owned, garden center in the area, and right off the expressway! read more

I love this place! It's a vibrant and beautiful space. As a complete newbie to plants/gardening, I was a bit overwhelmed, Caro helped me find a few starter plants that fit my needs. She was knowledgeable and kind. I'll definitely be coming back! read more

The plants they have are well cared for so you don't have to worry about the plants dying as soon as they come home. The selection of plants is not huge. The staff is knowledgeable about plants and plant care but they are not nice. In fact, this is probably the only nursery I have ever been to where the staff is pretty rude. The price point is steep so based on all these facts, I do shop here on occasion since it opened but I usually take my business elsewhere (unless I need something quickly). read more

Excellent selection of succulents and more unique plants than your normal nursery. As strange as it may sound, everything seemed nicer here. Higher quality plants, cleaner, etc. I enjoyed perusing the aisles in search of something different for my pallet garden. I found a few things and I'm proud to report that, months later, everything is still growing strong. If I lived closer, I would make this a stop each year when searching for garden plants. read more

Fertile Garden Center - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I have been using Susan, Ruben and the Fertile team for 5 years now and they continue to blow me away with their creativity, service and price. They plant my roofdeck and window boxes and it just keeps getting better! Well done!! read more

I shopped at Fertile in Spring/Summer ... they have a beautiful variety of plants ... Many are unusual! Never really had to ask the staff for help but they seem friendly! I will continue to shop here. (Some prices may be higher than expected but the selection is amazing!) read more

I found this gem on a trip into the city this fall. I was just browsing but ended up buying three gorgeous mum plants, pumpkins and gourds and a large candle. The mums turned out to be the best I've ever had. The flowers were large and the colors were vibrant. A few weeks later I went back and bought 10 house plants and two planters. Again, the plants were healthy and are growing like crazy in my home. Well, the holidays are upon us and Fertile will be my destination for my Christmas tree, garland and gifts. Their store is darling and well layed out and they have many beautiful Christmas trees available for purchase. The staff is knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. I highly recommend this quaint shop for all your gardening needs. read more

We've been searching for a dwarf conifer, pine tree. All other garden centers in the area only had pine trees at crew 20 to 30 feet tall. This garden center had one that grew 8 feet tall. The staff were so helpful. They took the time to clean the tree, teach us how to planet, and how to care for it. They even offered to special order another tree for us. Great selection of plants, tools, soil, etc. Highly recommend it read more

I think it about time to write a review since we have been going to Fertile for years! The owners, as well as the staff, are knowledgeable, helpful and very talented. Whenever I have planting or plant survival questions about my home garden-they take their time, responding carefully. We now use them exclusively for our selection of annual and perennial plants for our garden. They take the time to give me sunlight, watering and location suggestions for each planting. Fertile has sold us planted containers specifically for the lack of sun conditions of our porch. They live and change throughout the entire Summer and Fall. They, incidentally, have a wonderful container selection. This year we had a problem with one of our mature trees, dying from the Polar Vortex from a few years ago. We needed to replace it and had no idea what to get. Russell, one of the owners, really helped us, explaining how to get tree removal, what potential types of trees could live in that space along with their present and mature sizes. Russell then guided us to find the right tree for our garden. We have never found this extent of helpfulness anywhere else. I love to garden, but am not knowledgeable about plants. I really appreciate their expertise in guiding me. I highly recommend Fertile for all gardening needs, as well as their beautiful containers. AND For the last 5 years we have picked up the best Christmas trees and Halloween pumpkins we have ever had! Look forward to each Spring, when they open to get the season going! read more

i'm obsessed with caroline. we came back to see her four times in two weeks. she treated us like royalty, set us up like kiings, and actually cared what our tastes / interests / gravitations were. i would recommenmd this place to anyone. read more

I love this place! So cute and so helpful when trying to decide which plants are right for you. Also a very great selection of pumpkins right now read more

incredible staff and selection! we redid all of our landscaping in front of our house and came here for all of our needs. the staff couldn't be more friendly and knowledgeable. land the trees, plants and flowers are beautiful. highly recommend!! read more

The owner Susan is extremely rude and not welcoming! This is not how a business should be run. I am new to the area and came in for a wonderful experience and was extremely shocked at this business owners unbelievable rude tactics. We already all have to deal with unpleasantness in the world and should not have to deal with this when entering a place of business. Support other business who appreciate your money. read more

I walked into Fertile having never bought plants, flowers or shrubbery, nor have I ever gardened before. A total rookie. Shame on me for not watching my mother more closely in the garden over the years. I did know that I wanted a purifying house plant for my studio apartment, had made a short list of options, and that Fertile was the first place I would check out. I quickly learned that there was no need to go anywhere else, because this place was absolutely amazing! Mostly thanks to Adrianna (sp?), who approached me almost immediately and asked if I needed any assistance. Boy did I ever, it's very intimidating to walk into a nursery not knowing a thing about flowers! I bet it's a bit like walking into a crowded daycare to pick up your child whom you've never met before! I gave her my list, and she let me know that they had English Ivy. After asking how many I wanted and what type of pot I planned to put it in, I think she quickly realized the look of terror on my face and offered to pot it for me. WHAT?! YOU CAN DO THAT?! I was so thankful for the offer and definitely took her up on it. I just couldn't believe she did that for me, and she even created a rock filtration system at the bottom of the soil since there was no hole in the pot, as she told me. Again, this is all a foreign language to me, whatever she said, I would have gone with. I would have never known to do that! She made me proud to be a first time house plant owner, and I can't wait to go back for more! To sum it up: Excellent customer service, wide variety, reasonable prices. (at least for what I bought!) Thank you Adrianna and Fertile! read more

I am aware that Fertile's offerings are on a seasonal basis and that my review might vary based on visits in other times of the year. However, my first visit here was rather disappointing. I've driven by Fertile on many occasions but waited until I was ready to decorate my mantle for Christmas before I went over. I went around 11am on Friday and got a spot in the alley behind the shop. This place isn't very big and it was actually several minutes before I even saw someone who looked like they worked there. There were plenty of Christmas trees and you could smell the pine, but when I went to look at the garland and swags, well it was a different story. The garland wasn't an option as I believe that only rolls of 25' or more were available. The swags looked beat up and had no smell. Some of them had brown/dried up needles and none had any scent to them. One guy came over and showed me the boxes of swag that were opened today and they were better but not what I was looking for and $12 each. Overall I was disappointed about the quality and quantity of what they had to offer. I went to Home Depot on North Avenue afterwards and found exactly what I wanted (4 swags of different tree cuts for a total of $28) clearly less than what Fertile was charging and it smells wonderful. I'll try them again in a different season, but not for holiday greenery. read more

While this nursery seems more expensive than the big box stores, we frequent this place often because it's within walking distance of our house, they are super helpful, have a great selection and it's also become a family tradition to take our kids to their pumpkin patch and take photos every year. We were disappointed that 1 of our 5 pumpkins was rotten within a few days of our purchase and I'm sure they would have refunded our money had I brought it back. I recently purchased some birch branches to put next to our fireplace and they are just lovely. Also bought a great holiday wreath made in red berries. Fertile is not just a spring and summer nursery. ..they have many things for every season. read more

I cannot say enough about Fertile. We moved into a new construction house with no landscaping except basic sod and inexpensive bushes. We tried four different landscape architects to come out and help us with our front yard. Finally after their ridiculous contracts and failure to get us drawings, my husband went to Fertile to pick out some trees to plant ourselves. When Ruben and the guys showed up, they planted our trees, ripped out the sod, created a beautiful stone pathway to the side of the house and planted annuals. My front yard looks like it should be on a magazine. They just came back to give it a fall look with pumpkins and mums and it looks like something Martha Stewart would do. They are the best in Chicago hands-down! They are the easiest landscape company I've worked with as a homeowner. I promise you will love their creativity and quality trees and bushes. read more

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The staff here, particularly a woman with longer blonde hair, were extremely rude. I have never been treated as a customer like the way they treat customers here. It has great plants but shop elsewhere if you can. read more

Great place for all your garden needs. Staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. Easy, wide open spaces as well which made the experience that much better. Selection was great, staff is very knowledgeable on the best options for small spaces. Great place, highly recommend! read more

I like Fertile because it is close to my house. I don't like Fertile because every time I go there, I can't find anyone to help me or even ring me up. The owner and her crew seem more interested in doing landscape design - I imagine it is more profitable - than running a store. I have been there 3 times in the last 2 weeks and the place was a ghost town each time. And, I went when the weather was good. Staff is friendly, but when I found one to help me, she was clueless. The plant selection is okay. When you walk into Gethsemane from the parking lot, you are greeted with a glorious display of perennials. Same with the Annual department at Gethsemane. Fertile has no displays in the yard. It is very badly organized, too. They don't have a lot of space, and make poor use of what they have. They need a visual display manager. Seriously. One star for location. Second star for selection. If I could give a half star for friendliness of staff, I would, but I can't. Lose a star for being a ghost town. Lose a second star for being disorganized. Lose a third star because I can't give half a star - staff is friendly, but clueless. One more thing...everyone harps on how expensive nurseries are in the city. When I compared the price of a 1-quart annual, Gethsemane had the lowest price at $4.19. Fertile is $4.49 or $4.99 depending on if the plant is a "shallow" or "deep quart" while Jayson Home and Garden is $5.39 per quart. The price was in inversely proportionate to the size of the nursery. Gethsemane is largest, but had lowest price. Etc. read more

Tried to exchange a pot due to it being the wrong size. Not returning, exchanging. No dice. Guess I'll spend all my $ at home depot.

Awesome, friendly and staff is very knowledgeable. Huge selection easy to shop. Ryan is always willing to answer my questions and the owner is there every day - love Sue. Highly recommend and prices are very competitive. read more

Lovely local owned flower shop with a great selection. The whole staff was very friendly and helpful with my many questions. Defiantly stop in for your spring flowers! read more

We used Fertile on Diversey for the first time this spring to refresh our planters in the front yard. We have been very impressed with the work and professionalism of Susan and her employees. Our flowers got ruined in the unseasonal snow and Susan surprised us by replacing the dead flowers free of cost. This speaks volumes of her customer service and her work ethic. I highly recommend Fertile and we are happy to be a part of Fertile family!! read more

I hired this firm based on good Yelp reviews. But at the time, could not quite make sense of the negatives. Until now. Here's a cautionary tale... My neighbor and I were both looking at a number of firms for cleanup plus services. The owner Susan came to meet us. She seemed knowledgable. The one watch-out of the visits was her obvious discomfort at offering a viable cost parameters. She actually told me: "I'm really not very good at estimating." Seriously -- from an owner & professional? However, again based on reviews of the actual work, we decided to give her firm a try. I spoke to "the manager" after two calls, because no one seemed to know when Susan would actually be in. Explaining that, as business people neither my neighbor or I was comfortable hiring anyone on the basis of TOTALLY open "time & materials", we proposed a reasonable time parameter for both jobs for this first fall clean-up service, based on prior firms' work. I was clear that we would be fine with any work that might be left undone, based on our own parameters. She checked that and another specific question with the foreman who would actually do the work. And Fertile agreed to take the jobs. We set a date, finding one day for both visits for their advantage (vs. our own convenience). Over a week later, there's a voice message from Susan: she's "too busy" to take on anything with any parameters. Thinking perhaps this was a mis-communication of what we were asking for, I left several messages. When the call was finally returned, she was not only rude. She directly contradicted facts her employees, who do the work, had provided. Net: while employees seemed honest and may be talented, if you like signing blank checks, and want a firm whose owner does not honor verbal contracts -- does not empower its own employees -- and isn't truthful: this is the firm for you. read more

Nice to your face while at the shop, but extremely rude and confrontational on the phone when trying to ask a question about a situation. Unfortunately, I've been trying to rectify my plant situation (a tree that I bought from there In June) for the past 2+ months, and I just got off the phone with quite possibly the rudest woman. Not a great way to round out my afternoon :( read more

I purchased a container and had the women working design it for me. I honestly was underwhelmed by their selection and the design. It might have been because I came at an awkward time in the season and there weren't very many plants available but it was pretty expensive and not that appealing. read more

Wonderful flowers pretty place. But the only thing that bugged me was I was accidentally charged 23.06 twice by the owner . I immediately showed her my bank statement on my phone Chase app before I left the register and she said their is nothing that she can do for me . To call my bank and they can cancel the extra charge.... and unfortunately my bank was unable to reverse the charges :( so I def wont be going back to fertile. She was rude n unhelpful. read more

This place is great! My husband and I have been getting our plants, flowers, and pumpkins here for several years. The selection is great, the staff is super friendly and helpful, and the prices are very reasonable. The location is great as well - I haven't been to a nursery with this much selection in the city before. read more

They did a great job planting our container garden last autumn and then a nice job in the winter with greens and such. The garden this summer was a hot, smoking' mess. Completely incoherent in terms of plant selection, color, style . . . you name it. Everyone from husband to housekeeper thought it was awful. Their explanation "the style went with the containers". True, if the container was an airsick bag. No way, no how, not ever, ever, ever letting them loose on my terrace again. read more

We like the plants from this place but the owner is extremely rude. I wouldn't write this review based on one encounter and this based on numerous interactions. read more

I loved Fertile Ltd! It's a great place for apartment-dwellers to find potted plants for the windowsill or a small outdoor garden area.

I have never dealt with someone as rude or unprofessional as the owner, Susan. I used the nursery to move a Rhododendron from my old apartment to my home. I was initially told that this would be an easy job and take less then an hour and would cost $65. Everything went well and the people that did the job were very pleasant. The next day I got a call from Susan, not to ask how everything went or to apologize for being 2 hours late, but to tell that I owed $85 and yell at me for not giving my credit card number (which I had done when I had called to set up the job). When I questioned her as to why I was being charged a different price she told me it was because they used two people to move the plant. This price adjustment was not communicated to me and I told her this. Her response was to tell me how annoying my job was and how sick of this she was and to continue to yell at me. Why go into this bussiness if you can't deal with a simple job? Why go into business if you don't like people and are going to be nasty to them? I live in the neighborhood and will be spending a lot of money this spring and summer on my garden, but I would rather go to any other nursery than Fertile Ltd. read more