Comments (0) BEST LOCAL GIRL WITH A GREEN THUMB - 2005
Tera Vessels
Everybody from Target to Home Depot sells plants, but only Tera Vessels can tell you the secrets to making them thrive here in the world's most populated oven. Vessels runs a nursery in an old downtown bungalow, selling plants, gardening accessories and art. But it's the garden surrounding the house that signals you're in the presence of someone who could grow coreopsis in concrete --- an apt metaphor for gardening in Phoenix.
Butterflies and hummingbirds flit through towering Maximilian sunflowers. Drifts of blanket flowers surround wands of hollyhocks, and koi swim in cool ponds. Vessels, wiry and tan from spending so much time working in her beloved garden, is a veritable plant whisperer. Have some coffee with her and tell her your garden troubles. Penstemons stunted? Tera can help. Aphids gobbling your hibiscus? Tera can help. Worried about the state of the world? Tera can't help you with that, but remember, growing something -- or trying to, at least -- always makes you feel better.
