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Seasonal Notes

We are a “Plants, Seeds, Soils, Pots, and Garden sort of Shop”. Outdoors we have the widest selection of Sierra native plants, trees and shrubs selected for their long-term survival here and cultured for our heavy snow-loads, and hardy perennials and wildflowers from the mountain-west and from the coldest, harshest locations around the globe. Plus there are large pots, wooden barrels, organic soil amendments and garden art. Inside the shop is full of healthy tropical houseplants, bulbs, wildflower seeds, vegetable seeds, indoor gardening gear, pottery, potting soils, organic fertilizers, pruning tools, and plant nutrients, as well as seed-sprouting supplies. We also have every gardener’s favorite present: gift certificates (on-line) from your experienced local garden center.

Spring in Truckee: Mid-May through June
We’re open 7 days a week, early and late – this 6-7 weeks is when most of us spend time in the garden.
Open Mon-Sat 9:00-5:30 and Sun 10-3 *(always weather dependent… if the weather is super snowy or deeply cold we may delay opening or close a little early.)

Historically, May is mostly spring-like in Truckee, with frequent wintery days and many frosty nights. Daffodils are finishing blooms in Tahoe Donner and Apple trees (all sorts), Lilacs, and Camas Lilies are blooming abundantly by mid-May… A LOT happens over the course of this month. In the nursery we are bringing-in the hardiest (cold tolerant) veggie-starts, annual color, and tough perennials that we harden for a few days. May 1’s average temps: high: 59°/ low 27º and May 30: 69°/33ºF. These historical averages are based on wildly varying extremes (e.g,27º=<17->37º). The past few years have been neither historically average nor “normal”.
Truckee’s elevation on the Sierra’s east side with Great Basin aridity yields significantly higher diurnal temperature variations than most western communities.

You can plant at any time, and generally the sooner the better, but please wait until the soil is no longer muddy. Working wet soil collapses its structure, reducing the aeration and drainage that roots and soil biology depend on. Please note that because our nights remain extremely cold through May, many plants grown in warmer climates will have lost their cold hardiness (deacclimated) and can be easily damaged or killed. The plants we offer in early spring are either overwintered here and already on our climatic schedule, or very selectively curated for tolerance to our temperatures.

We’re Here to Help. Even when the shop is “closed” in winter, we are constantly around, tending to the plants, cats, orders, plans, and bids. If you need a specific product, a project bid, or a consultation, please email us. We check messages nightly and will get back to you within a couple of days. You can also leave a voicemail at 530-587-0771.

Best wishes for a better 2026! Here’s to Science, to Research, to Data, to Facts, to Education, to Kindness, to Sanity, to Truth, to Grace, and to Hope. Be Grateful. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Be nice. Try.

Check our 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 the Northern High Sierra for more than 50 years. In 1951 Villager Florist opened in the original Gateway Center next to the Gateway Motel. In 1975, Jeanette Harper purchased the florist and began adding a few outdoor plants, creating what would become Villager Nursery. Eric Larusson joined the staff in 1985 and continued to expand the nursery, discover new growers of naive plants, and source the best organic composts and fertilizers. In 1996, we passed the florist business on to an employee and focused whole-heartedly on the plants and materials best suited to our mountain environments: extreme winter-hardy and native plants, hardy summer color, short-season vegetables, and organic landscape supplies. We use regional ecosystems as our model. By integrating native and adapted plants, ecological restoration techniques, and botanical knowledge, we help local gardeners create distinctive landscapes that are rooted in place, and naturalistic in expression. Since 1999, we have been located at the historic west end of Brickelltown, on a property once home to the Varney Dairy and McIver Dairy. The house dates to 1867, and the shop, originally Jim McIver’s blacksmith shop, was built in the 1920s. We are grateful to care for a place with such deep Truckee roots and to honor its legacy.