This appointment-only nursery stocks some 300 varieties of obscure cacti, succulents and agave. Owner Margaret Cumurovic has a knack for unearthing spectacular finds, and when she’s not meeting succulent enthusiasts at the nursery, you’ll find her on the road sourcing plants from all over Sydney, sometimes driving up to three hours away. That patience applies to growing, as well – some of her cacti are up to 50 years old, compared to the three-year-old specimens usually found at nurseries. Prices start at a reasonable $5, with plenty for $15 and $20.

If there’s such a thing as spending a day out at a nursery, Eden Gardens is the place to do so. Set on 2.5 acres, this aspirational site features a cafe, florist and display garden (i.e. one planted purely for admiring) in addition to sizeable indoor and outdoor retail areas. Wicker chairs, striking pots and masses of fiddle leaf figs and other on-trend house plants give the place an impressive aesthetic, but beyond that it has all the trappings of a regular nursery.

This vast space is a rare hybrid of chic homewares store and the archetypal grubby nursery, offering the best of both worlds. With designer tables alongside all the usual plants, it’s no wonder it’s a favoured destination for landscape architects. Head here if your house looks lifted from the pages of a magazine, or you just wish it would and have the cash to make it happen.

Newtown’s friendly spirit is on full display at this compact nursery, where the knowledgeable staff can talk you through everything from planning your first garden to why your favourite monstera is no longer thriving. Stop by for flowers, dwarf fruit trees, bonsai, seeds and a substantial range of indoor plants, all crammed into a lush, jungle-like space.

Newcomers might mistake this sparing open-air nursery for a temporary boot sale, rather than what it is: a 50-year-old operation with some of the cheapest natives in the inner city. The catalogue runs from potted herbs all the way up to full-height trees, with species from all over the world. That said, the nursery has a penchant not just for natives, but for those best adapted to the eastern suburbs’ sandy soils. If you live in the area, this is a great place to start or replenish your garden. Just not on a weekend: Randwick Community Nursery is only open on weekdays.

Where many nurseries are supplied by larger wholesalers, this award-winning operation has its own massive production site in Dural. This steady, beating heart keeps Honeysuckle’s two locations in Mosman and Turramurra (and several other nurseries on this list) supplied with a wide range of healthy, high-quality stock, from seedlings to mature shrubs and trees. This is backed by a full range of services, including home delivery, landscaping and horticultural consultation.

For all the sense it makes to plant natives properly adapted to Sydney’s conditions, an English-style cottage garden is still tempting to many people. If you’re one of them, the 16-hectare Swane’s – which has a second, smaller location in Carlingford – could be the nursery for you. Founded in 1919, Swane’s originally operated as a market garden. Over time, though, its focus has shifted heavily to roses, which it now grows in a row of big, identical pitched-roof greenhouses, along with orchids and other ornamental blooms. Outside you’ll find a full range of cacti and succulents, plenty of exotic shrubs and climbers from Asia, plus eucalypts and an array of other natives.

The Royal Botanic Garden is huge, so you can be forgiven if you’ve never noticed this small retail nursery set on the eastern boundary, near Woolloomooloo. Outdoor plant seedlings are the thing here – more so than full-grown specimens, anyway – with prices starting from as little as $5. The stock is largely propagated from the RBG’s own collection and those of its counterparts in Mount Annan and the Blue Mountains. That means rare and exotic flowers, shrubs and creepers often pop up for sale, alongside a steadier supply of natives.

Kevin and April Hamilton founded this nursery in 1979, when they found it hard to get certain cacti and succulents for their own garden. They quickly amassed hundreds of specimens and later moved to Llandilo, the business’s current home, in 1993. Today their daughter Kim (secretary of The Cactus and Succulent Society of NSW) runs the show, with upwards of 500,000 individual plants up for sale.

Few nurseries in Sydney can claim third-generation ownership like Valley Ranch Succulents, established in the 1960s. Despite the name, this backyard operation stocks more than succulents and cacti. It’s also a destination for ferns and various natives, almost all of which are propagated on site.

Sydney’s best native plant nursery? Many say this is it. With a history that stretches back to 1974 and a running catalogue of 1200 native flowers, trees, shrubs and grasses, this is the place to visit if you’re looking to plant a hardy, well-adapted garden that will require low ongoing maintenance. This is also a hot destination if you’re interested in edible natives and want to learn how to grow and cook them. The team even has a bunch of recipes up its sleeve.

This place aims to empower new plant parents to find joy and confidence in plant care, selling “hard-to-kill” plants like devil’s ivy, heartleaf philodendron, Monstera Deliciosa and the Zanzibar gem. Aside from those low-maintenance varieties, there’s a focus on vivid ceramics – which you can bundle with coffee, chocolates and more as a handsome gift for someone special.

A side hustle selling succulents and indoor varieties at weekend markets has since become a thriving full time gig for Plant Daddy's Chris and Charlie Wu. Their Newtown corner shop is a destination for hard-to-find greenery and handcrafted plant accessories such as pot cosies and ceramics.

If you’re just after one or two attractive plants and pots for your loungeroom, Terrace is a simpler option than a full-blown nursery. The playful store stocks succulents, ferns and various other indoor staples.

This nursery is dedicated to indigenous plants and can help you discover what was growing in your neighbourhood way before you arrived.