Article updated on October 1, 2024 at 5:18 PM PDT
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Shopping for plants online opens up a world of flora options.
Getty ImagesWhether you’ve recently become a plant parent or you’ve been growing and grooming for years, adding to your garden has never been easier. These days, you can skip the trip to the nursery or local flower shop and find everything you need online. With just a few clicks, you’ll be able to browse, select and buy a beautiful new addition to your garden. Buying plants online is an affordable, convenient way to get live plants delivered straight to your doorstep. Contrary to what you might think, plants you buy online are often carefully packaged and quickly shipped to protect against extreme temperatures and potential damage. Whether for new plant parents or plant experts, I found the best places to buy plants online -- complete with helpful tips, care instructions and more.
If you prefer buying plants offline and have a family-owned nursery, local greenhouse or a store that you frequent, that's great. But that's not accessible to everyone locally, which is why many plant owners turn to online shopping. Additionally, for more unusual plants, buying online may be the best option to get the exact flora you want, thanks to the wide selection.
You can also use plant subscriptions if you want to have plants delivered regularly or as a gift. For those in need of plants for specific purposes like landscaping, there are specialist online plant vendors. If you don't have a green thumb, you can go for one of the many low-maintenance options that are easy to keep alive.
Buying plants online means a bigger selection
Depending on what sort of access you have to plant shops, buying your houseplants online may mean a much bigger selection. With so many varieties available from online plant stores, you skip the meager selection at the hardware store and scan an endless virtual garden of potted plants, ferns, ficus and flowers guaranteed to brighten a corner, window, shelf or room.
When you buy your flora on the web, you can choose from common or rare plants, mini cacti and succulents, hanging plants, flowering plants, planters, faux plants, air plants and large indoor floor plants that anchor an entire room. Better yet, popular online plant markets such as Bloomscape and The Sill provide specific advice for plant care to help your new greenery stay green. Most of these online plant retailers also carry a wide range of stunning pots and planters to display your new verdure in many styles and colors.
Buying plants gives you access to more info
Shopping with an online plant marketplace also makes it easy to find pet-friendly potted plants that are safe for your pup or cat. And if your thumb isn't as green as you'd like it to be, you can find easy-care plants that are nearly impossible to kill with many sites offering easy-care or low-maintenance plant sections filled with rugged flora in all sizes and styles.
These online markets and vendors offer meticulous information on how to care for your new plant, so even if it's not low-maintenance, you'll have a better chance of keeping it alive when armed with planting, watering and sunlight recommendations.
You can buy outdoor plants online, too
Beyond indoor plants, we dug up a solid option for buying bigger outdoor plants online including fruit trees, vegetable plants, vines and shrubs for landscaping in case this is the summer you're finally turning the backyard into a natural wonderland. And if you're looking to grow fresh herbs inside without having to touch a single grain of soil, we've got you covered there, too: Check out CNET's list of best indoor pod gardens in 2024.
Plants make excellent gifts for a new homeowner, holiday gift or as a pick-me-up for someone feeling the winter blues. Whatever your goals are as a plant parent, these are our picks for the best places for buying plants online in 2024.
Read more: Best Seed Delivery Services and Subscriptions for Gardeners in 2024
I ordered a big Chinese fan palm from Bloomscape and I'm happy to report a year later that it's still healthy, green and kicking butt.
Whether you're looking for indoor or outdoor plants for the home or garden, there may not be a better selection than Bloomscape. Find plants that'll add loads of life and texture to any space, like palms, bird of paradise, succulent varieties or those trendy fiddle leaf figs. You can shop by categories, including "low-maintenance" and "pet-friendly," and each comes with a clay pot and saucer so it's ready to go upon arrival. Free shipping is available on all orders over $150 and you get $20 off your first order by subscribing to the email list. The platform also has multiple sales throughout the year, so you can snag great deals on your favorite plants.
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If you're looking for a specific plant or just want to scroll through greenery and flora for hours, head over to Plants.com. The online retailer has pages and pages of plants of every size and species including ferns, bonsai trees and bamboo, cacti and succulents, air plants, hanging plants, floor plants, trees and tropical plants. You can search by plant type, size and price or peruse Plants.com's extensive selection of plant gifts. It offers a speedy next-day delivery and you get free shipping on all orders above $100. You can also get 15% off your first order when you subscribe to the email list.
The Sill is another online plant marketplace with a massive selection of indoor houseplants and outdoor plants, including ferns, figs, air plant options, snake plant varieties, orchids and succulents.
The Sill also offers subscriptions: The Plants for Beginners subscription sends one easy-care indoor plant to your home each month, fit with an earthenware pot in black, blush or mint. There's even a subscription for Pet Parents, where you'll get monthly potted plant deliveries that are perfectly safe for Fido and Garfield. If your new plants don't arrive in a healthy condition, you can make use of the 30-day guarantee and request a free replacement.
The beauty of a plant subscription is that the giftee will get that warm feeling every month for as long as you choose to bestow a plant club membership on them. Horti has the option to gift a three-, six- or 12-month subscription. There's also a rare plant subscription with philodendrons, jewel orchis, rare hoyas and begonias. If you don't want a subscription just yet, you might find something for yourself in the Shop category.
Amazon's selection of plants rivals any other online plant marketplace, with the megaretailer's signature low prices (and speedy shipping.) Amazon's bounty of plant options includes monsteras, rubber plants, palms, bonsais, succulents and many more. While the quality of plants delivered from Amazon can be hit or miss, on average, this is where you'll find the cheapest plants to purchase online with loads of options under $20.
Read more: The Best Indoor Garden for Every Type of Gardener in 2024
Succulents are as easy as plants get and give you a little desert charm without having to worry about watering them daily, or even weekly. Leaf & Clay is the online succulent specialist with endless varieties in all shapes and sizes. You can snag bundles starting at $14 or join a subscription and have a shipment of three mini cacti show up at your door for as little as $25 a month.
If you've got plans for some serious gardening or landscaping, the plant collection at Nature Hills is a good place to start for blooming plants, potted plant options and more. It's got everything from houseplant options and perennial flowers to literal trees, shrubs and vines. You can also find fruit trees and plants, including apple, citrus and stone fruit trees along with a wide range of berry bushes.
If you're trying to get your garden in shape, Leaf'd Box may be the easiest way to do it. My box of small veggie plants showed up on time and in healthy condition, ready to go into the soil.
The garden service will take an order for whatever it is you want to grow -- veggies, herbs, lettuce and other produce. Then the gardeners grow 'em for you up to the right size for planting and send a box four times a year with plants that thrive during that season and in your climate.
Plant subscription kits start at $65 and are available through the website.
If you're looking for a big showstopper of a monstera deliciosa or braided money tree to anchor a corner of your living room, try this San Francisco plant delivery service. Léon & George has a huge selection of statement plants and some sleek, modern pots to house them. Shipping costs vary depending on the size of the plant and they offer chic pots to really show off your new plant.
This online marketplace likes to think of itself as a vegan version of Amazon. PlantX carries a sprawling inventory of plant-based products, including a variety of indoor house plants and succulents. It's all reasonably priced, with most clocking in under $50 and some small plants for as little as $6. What's nice about PlantX is you can tack on other items, including ready-to-eat, plant-based meals (which is set to debut soon) onto your order.