Nursery and Ceramics

Maria Luz Lopez, a Guadalajara native, started the nursery in 1983 in the trunk of her car on a vacant lot at Avalon Boulevard and 54th Street. She sold plants she got from her sister, Ofelia Hurtado, who taught her how to buy plants and flowers wholesale. 

Lopez eventually signed a lease with a local burger restaurant to park her car in the lot and display her merchandise. The nursery has grown into a lush, maze-like space that some say feels more like a botanic garden than a nursery. 

Lopez has faced many challenges, including a language barrier, being robbed at gunpoint, the Rodney King riots, and the pandemic. 

Customers have shared stories of happy childhood memories of shopping at the nursery with their grandparents, and others visit to be alone with the plants. 

The nursery offers a wide selection of plants, including trees, shrubs, vegetable seedlings, roses, succulents, and soil amendments. It also has a “green room” for houseplants and sells colorful ceramics. In late November, the nursery sells cut Christmas trees.