This year, Archie’s Gardenland continues celebrating 90 years of serving area gardeners who include seasoned veterans to those newly introduced to the joy of gardening and everyone in between. Randall Archie, the fourth generation of his family to operate the nursery and garden center, continues the legacy by working alongside his father and aunt while passing the tradition on to the fifth generation.
“I practically grew up here running around the nursery, learning how to propagate plants and take care of all landscape materials,” says Randall. “It’s more than a job; it has kind of grown into who I am over time.”
The ongoing and seasonal nature of gardening means the Archie’s Gardenland team builds relationships as they often see repeat customers. These frequent interactions, combined with the multi-generational aspect of the business, motivate Randall and his team to continue to cultivate the best experience for customers by improving efficiency and creating an enjoyable and helpful environment.
“It's fun getting to help people from start to finish with a project, and then they come back later and tell you of the successes from their planting. Or they might have some struggles, and we work through things mutually to figure out what's going on,” he says. “There is a big connection to our customer base, and it's pretty fun getting to watch someone light up when they tell you about the plants that you help them select and how they're growing.”
Archie’s Gardenland has eight retail greenhouses for customers to explore that offer everything from small seasonal plants to 100-gallon shade trees and everything in between. Plant varieties range from ornamentals to edible plants such as vegetables, fruit trees, fruiting vines, and herbs. The garden center is also stocked with a full plant health selection to address the variety of struggles and stress plants face under challenging Texas weather conditions.
The size of the nursery ensures that even during peak business days, customers still feel the calming and relaxing nature of exploring the property which in addition to housing thousands of plants, has a curated selection of pottery, fountains, yard art, and patio décor to browse. With so many options, the team at Archie’s is happy to guide customers as they make decisions and provide educational support through the gardening process.
“It's important for us to relay that gardening is not as intimidating as it seems,” explains Randall. “Some look at gardening as an overwhelming project, but we want to help people discover that gardening can be fun because there are many ways to go about proper steps to having a successful garden and landscaping your home.”
For couples, Archie’s Gardenland provides the perfect setting for a nontraditional date. In addition to hosting special events such as Music in the Garden and Greenhouse dinners, the greenhouses give off a botanical garden vibe perfect for strolling and admiring the colors and foliage of many different types of plants. Some visitors come to soak in the ambiance, but many couples also enjoy the process of choosing a houseplant together to take home and nurture.
“When you are sharing that decision and taking home a plant to take care of, it's a pretty connected experience,” says Randall. “You're not just paying for dinner and then you're done. You have this plant that you get to take care of for multiple seasons and there are memories attached to it.”
Couples can browse the greenhouses, then take a break and share a meal at the café while they contemplate what they would like to take home. The Gardenland Café, which is now run completely in-house, features a rotating seasonal menu with locally grown produce. Dishes are created with an emphasis on being healthy and fresh. Diners will also appreciate the vibrant atmosphere of the fully landscaped patio that sits comfortably beneath a canopy of shade trees.
“My granddad was a very big home chef and he always wanted to have food here as an option,” shares Randall. “So it's pretty neat to finally get that into rotation and we're really excited to have some dishes in his name.”
The nursery boasts endless photo opportunities with an array of colors and textures as backgrounds and the greenhouses provide an unexpected refuge during inclement weather. “On a normal rainy day when retail is a little bit slower, couples take advantage of it to walk through the greenhouse together. The ambience in the greenhouses on a rainy day is hard to beat,” shares Randall. “And I've seen a lot of couples taking advantage of our really cute photo options and highlighting some of our spots that look like you're lost in a garden center.”
Stop by and explore Archie’s Gardenland, located at 6700 Z Boaz Place in Fort Worth. For more information on seasonal offerings and services, visit archiesgardenland.com or call 817-737-6614. To stay up to date on special events, follow @archies_gardenland and @thegardenlandcafe on Instagram.