Seedlings vs. Store-Bought Plants: Why Local Grown Starts Win Every Time

Samantha Owens
Apr 1
2 min read

Alright, Chicago-area gardeners, let’s have a little heart-to-heart about where you’re getting your plant starts. We get it—those big-box garden centers are convenient. You walk in for a bag of mulch and suddenly find yourself staring at a sea of tomato plants with generic labels that just say things like "Red Tomato" (gee, thanks, super helpful). But before you toss one in your cart, let’s talk about why locally grown plant starts—like the ones from Happy Place Plants—are the real MVPs of your garden.

Locally Grown = Set Up for Success

When you buy plants from a big-box store, chances are they were grown in a completely different climate, trucked across state lines, and plopped onto a shelf with little regard for how they’ll actually perform in your backyard. Here in Chicagoland, we deal with wild temperature swings, unpredictable rain (or lack thereof), and a spring season that loves to play emotional games with us.

Happy Place Plants starts are grown right here, for right here. That means they’ve already been living their best lives in our local conditions, making them tough enough to handle whatever moody weather Chicago decides to throw at them.

Better Plants = Bigger Yields & Better Flavor

Not all plants are created equal. Those mass-produced starts? They’re bred for travel durability, not taste. But our locally grown starts? They’re chosen for flavor, productivity, and adaptability. Want juicy, lower-acid tomatoes like Dr. Wyche’s Yellow? Sweet, snackable cherries like Barry’s Crazy Cherry? Stunning, striped beauties like Cosmic Eclipse? We’ve got them.

And don’t even get me started on peppers. The grocery store might have one generic jalapeño plant, but we’ve got Nadapeños (all the jalapeño flavor, none of the heat), Fresno chilies (fruity and spicy, perfect for hot sauce), and Aji Cristal (a citrusy, medium-heat pepper that’ll change your salsa game forever).

Pre-Order & Get the Best of the Best

Here’s the deal: The good stuff goes fast.

If you want first dibs on the best locally grown plant starts, pre-order for our 3rd Annual Happy Place Plants Sale on May 17-18 at C’Mon Inn in Grayslake! That way, you’re not left staring at the leftover tomato plants at the big box store while everyone else is growing the best-tasting, most productive gardens ever.