For more than 80 years, the Berridge family's friendly service, devotion, and perseverance (the owners rebuilt after the nursery burned down in 1971) has made Phoenix greener. Its philodendrons and rhododendrons and Creeping Charlies have climbed and sprouted and greened up the Valley for generations. We're nuts about the Berridges' impressive array of bonsai starter plants and related pots, trays, soils, and tools; its vast pile of ceramic planters; its wrought-iron benches; and its tidy bags of manure. But what we love most is the saintly patience the Berridge staff showed when we were just starting to grow a green thumb and turned up to ask every dumb question a first-time gardener could come up with. During our first visit, one nice fellow patiently talked us out of planting bare-root rose bushes in the fall. We've been back almost monthly ever since.