Seasonal Notes

Late Winter / Early Spring : Mid-April-Mid-May.

Monday-Saturday: 9:30-5:30
Sunday: closed
...at this time, until spring.
(often more hours and days)
Our hours always depend on weather, forecasts, garden interest, client needs, snowpack, etc…  Much like the weather, each season and each year, our hours are somewhat variable in spring and fall.

April, is late winter and early spring with many spring-like days and plenty of snow and hard frosts to come. We still expect mostly frosty nights and more days of snow in May. Cold-hardy plants perennials, annual color, herbs, and veggies thrive in these seemingly challenging conditions and we are bringing in more each week. Tender plants need protection and we'll only have a few until late May.

ASAP is a GREAT time to plant over-wintered dormant plants from the nursery, it is far too wintery to plant most trees, shrubs that have already leafed-out. April's average daytime temps start near 50°F and May's begin near 60°F but nighttime temperatures start near 20° and finish the month still well below freezing. We plant HARDY annual and perennial color plants, tough-as-nails perennials, and dormant woody plants in March and April to give them strong early-season root growth.

Wildflower Seeds do very well when planted very early. Late winter, from mid-February on, may be THE best time for spreading wildflower seeds, odds-of success-wise. Particularly in non-irrigated locations, mix seed with compost (Topper / FirMulch) or potting soil and spread them broadly as soon as moist soils are visible from under the melting snow.

We don't want to let anyone down, so if you need something (plant, product, plans, bids, or consulting) or have questions, PLEASE send-us an e-mail as we check them almost every evening. We'll usually get back to you in a day or two or as soon as we possibly can. You can also call and leave a voice message at 530-587-0771. contact us

We are a "Garden, Plant, and Soils" sort of shop full of healthy indoor and tropical houseplants, bulbs, indoor gardening gear, pottery, potting soils, organic fertilizers and nutrients, as well as seeds and seed-sprouting  supplies. We also have every gardener's favorite present: gift certificates from your experienced local garden center.

Our hours change with the climatic seasons  - always weather permitting. (Call ahead if it is dumping snow, if  holiday exodus traffic is heinous, or if we've got pea-soup smoke,  just-in-case we've gone home.) We change the hours here (on the website) and on independent Google, Yelp, Bing, Nextdoor, Tripadvisor, and Facebook sites.  Apple gets its info "elsewhere",  even apple is unsure where, so Apple Maps and Siri usually have wrong hours,  for every business, ALL the time.

Check Instagram or Facebook or the references page on this website for updates, informational sheets, class hand-outs and calendar updates. 

Villager Nursery Garden Center has been serving Truckee, Tahoe, and regional high Sierra mountain plant lovers, landscapers and gardeners for 50 years. Villager Florist started in the original Gateway Center (next to the Gateway Motel) in 1951 (74 yrs). In 1975 (50 yrs) Jeanette Harper purchased the Villager Florist and added outdoor plants to the mix (becoming Villager Nursery). We relinquished the florist in 1996 to focus exclusively on the extreme winter-hardy plants, native plants, summer color and vegetables, and landscape suppies. In 1999 we moved to nursery to The home of Varney Dairy  / McIver Dairy / Villager Nursery.  The House was build in 1867 and the Shop (a blacksmith and then auto shop) was built in the 1930's. We are the third owners of the structures on this land.

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