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Buying plants from Useful Plants Nursery

We have many options for individuals and groups looking to purchase plants from us. They range from visiting our nursery in person to buying at festivals to shipping via UPS. Please see the descriptions below to find the best way of getting your plants to you. Happy gardening!

Visiting our nursery

Our nursery is located at 1041 Camp Elliott Road, Black Mountain, NC 28711 at Earthaven Ecovillage. We are open 7 days a week by appointment and welcome your visit. Please call (828)-669-6517 or email debbie@usefulplants.org to schedule a visit. Please also see the driving directions before heading out!

Gift certificates

Trees and other plants are great gifts for any occasion - holidays, weddings, new babies, new houses! With a UPN gift certificate, the recipient can get just what they want when they are ready to plant it.

Gift certificates are available in any denomination of at least $5.00. We will send a paper certificate in the US mail. We are happy to add your greeting or special message to the certificate. If you prefer, we can send a PDF file that you or your recipient can print.

Public appearances and farmers' markets

During the months of March-June and September-December we appear at many festivals and farmers’ markets around western North Carolina. Please see our the appearances section on our home page to find where we’ll be, when. Please call (828)-669-6517 or email info@usefulplants.org at least ONE DAY in advance of an event or market to pre-order plants to be brought to you.

Note: A valid name and address is required for this option. Individuals who preorder plants and do not pick them up at the appointed time and place will be subject to a 15% restocking fee.

Ordering through partners or local order coordinators

If you live in an area where we have an established partner organization or individual, plants may be ordered through them and picked up from their location. Please see our partners page to find the order coordinator or partner closest to you who accepts Useful Plants orders. Not all partners accept orders, so PLEASE make sure that they do before calling or emailing them. 

Delivery

We are happy to deliver plants directly to your home or business. Please call (828)-669-6517 or email info@usefulplants.org to schedule a delivery. The delivery charge is 18% of the plant purchase price.

Minimum order amounts vary depending on distance from our nursery; please see chart below for examples. The minimum amount is based on the actual distance from our nursery. Exceptions may be made if your location is very close to one of our regular delivery routes or events; see our public appearances section for details.

Delivery to the Asheville Greenlife parking lot

For our Asheville, NC area customers, we offer once-per-week delivery to the Greenlife Market on Merrimon Avenue on Wednesdays at 5 pm in the lower (gravel) parking lot. An $8 delivery charge applies to all orders delivered to the Greenlife parking lot starting September 15, 2009.

Note: A valid name and address is required for this option. Individuals who preorder plants and do not pick them up at the appointed time and place will be subject to a 15% restocking fee.

Shipping

In keeping with our practice of supporting local businesses, we will ship plants to areas over 100 miles from our nursery under the following conditions: (1) You cannot find the plants you need closer than our nursery for a reasonable price, (2) it is not practical for you to visit our nursery or order through one of our partners or local order coordinators, and (3) you are willing to accept the risks and often high costs of shipping potted plants long distances. If at all possible we urge you to either visit our nursery in person, arrange a delivery if applicable, or place orders with a convenient local partner of ours. Any of these options not only makes it much more likely that your plant will get to you in good condition, but is usually less expensive on a per-plant basis than UPS shipping. A $30 minimum order is required for us to ship plants. All plants are shipped via UPS standard freight. Expedited shipping is available for a greater cost. 

About talking on the phone

Our inventory varies over time and we don't always have all sizes of all the plants listed on the website. Talking on the phone lets us explore the options before we bring you plants, especially if you want to know more about the different varieties. We enjoy talking about plants and look forward to talking with you about our plants.

You may send a message with our email contact form if you prefer, but please leave time for several exchanges to arrange for us to bring plants to you or for you to pick up plants at the nursery.