Florida has plenty of garden centers, and most are a hot parking lot with a sunshade and some racks of annuals. Trust me, I've explored my fair share. But Lake Worth Beach has something else going on.
Turn off North Dixie Highway, and there you'll find it; SmartyPlants runs 2 acres back from the road, past palms, butterfly host plants, bubbling fountains, and enough shade canopy that you'll forget where you parked.
For nearly 16 years, this was Amelia's SmartyPlants, opened in 2010 by Marta Edwards and Paul Harding. They retired in June, and the neighborhood braced for condos. Two longtime customers bought the land instead and created the ultimate plant paradise.
Of the Florida gardens we've covered, this is the only one that's also a working nursery, a coffee bar, and the place where somebody's kid is hunting for a chicken named GaLinda.
What You'll Find on the Property
The plants at SmartyPlants Nursery are grouped by where they'll actually live: full sun, shade and patio, houseplants. It's a small thing, but it saves you from buying something gorgeous that dies in 3 weeks.
Stock runs to tropicals, palms, flowering and fruit trees, Florida natives, drought-tolerant shrubs, succulents, bromeliads, cacti, and indoor plants, plus the pottery, soil, mulch, and organic fertilizer to go with them. The sun and shade areas have their own names here, Sunny Side and the Shade House, and staff will point you to whichever one your yard actually is.
There's also a chicken hidden somewhere on the property. Her name is GaLinda; she moves, and finding her is the entire game. Tell a staff member when you spot her, keep the location to yourself, and you'll get a sticker plus a discount on one treat from the front counter or the cafe. One discount per find, however big your search party.
The cafe is Cafe-Tico, a Palm Beach County outfit that started as a mobile Costa Rican coffee bar before it landed a permanent counter here. It opens early, making it a legitimate place to get coffee to fuel your plant purchases.
Weekends can bring yoga in the garden, a makers' market, or a hands-on workshop. The two acres also get rented out after hours for weddings, birthdays, and charity events.
The Nursery Neighbors Wouldn't Let Go
Edwards and Harding built the place up from 2010 on, and named it for one of Edwards's relatives. Over 16 years, it turned into the kind of business customers describe as their happy place, tranquil music and all.
The buyers were Ryan Boylston, a former Delray Beach city commissioner, and his partner Ed Mileto. Both had been shopping here for their own butterfly gardens long before they owned anything. When a colleague mentioned that a Palm Beach County nursery was for sale, Boylston told the Lake Worth Beach Independent, "There is only one I would ever be interested in."
They bought the land along with the business, which the founders had never owned. Boylston has also moved two of his other companies onto the site, GoodBird Landscaping from Delray Beach and Urban Abundance from Jupiter. The name lost its apostrophe along the way and is now just SmartyPlants.
Plan Your Visit
SmartyPlants Nursery + Cafe is located at 1515 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach, and the phone number is (561) 540-6296.
October is Pumpkins & Palms, a full month of pumpkins, haystacks, and cornstalks, which is about as close to fall as South Florida gets. Plein Air Palm Beach brings painters into the nursery November 3 through 6, with the finished work on the walls and for sale after the event. December turns the place over to the Festival of Trees.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's at 1515 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, in Palm Beach County. The phone number is (561) 540-6296. The property runs two acres deep, so it's bigger inside than it looks from the road.
Tuesday through Saturday, the nursery is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Cafe-Tico is a Palm Beach County coffee operation that ran as a mobile Costa Rican coffee bar before taking a permanent counter at the nursery. You can buy a coffee without buying a plant, which is a reasonable way to spend a morning.
Florida natives, palms, trees, edibles, succulents, bromeliads, aquatics, tropicals, and indoor plants, along with pots, planters, statuary, garden decor, soil, mulch, and organic fertilizer. Plants are grouped by growing conditions rather than by type, so you shop by where something will actually live.
The calendar includes plant workshops, classes, yoga in the garden, makers' markets, and art shows, and the grounds can be rented after hours for weddings, birthdays, and charity events. October is given over to Pumpkins & Palms, and December to the Festival of Trees.
GaLinda is a chicken hidden somewhere on the two-acre property, and she gets moved, so she isn't in the same spot twice. Find her, tell a staff member, and keep her location to yourself. Finders get a sticker and a discount on one treat from the front counter or the cafe, one discount per find.
Marta Edwards and Paul Harding founded Amelia's SmartyPlants in 2010 and retired in June 2026. Ryan Boylston and Ed Mileto bought the business and the land, shortened the name, and added the cafe and the events program.