Hughes Plant Farm

Just off Highway 69, a few minutes outside Tyler, you'll notice a little sign for Hughes Plant Farm. It can be easy to miss if you aren't paying attention (we've accidentally passed it twice!), but it's a hidden gem.

With the onset of spring, it didn't take long for the phrase "Oh, I'll just get it at Hughes'" to come into my normal vocabulary, and for good reason, as the selection is unbeatable. Tyler has quite a few pop up nurseries around town, but Hughes Plant Farm is run by the sweetest elderly couple, on their own land, I believe, and it's huge. It's definitely not a place to make a quick trip.

Around Fall '13: all the azaleas, snapdragons, and pansies you could ever need.

They grow most of the plants on site, so the stock is constantly circulating. Though, if you happen to go around prime planting times in early spring and fall, you'll find the inventory wiped clean -- It's a popular place! The plants are always excellent quality, and any plant I've bought from Hughes has thrived in comparison to those I've bought from big box stores like Lowes or Home Depot.

They have many different varieties, in addition to the standard selection.

Hughes offers everything from landscape supplies and shrubs to hostas to annuals to perrenials, including some natives and drought-tolerant species. They even have a wide variety of vegetable plants and fruit trees at a fraction of the price you'd pay at a home-improvement store. Oh, and of course they offer roses.

The bougainvillea house is one of my favorites.

My one critique, as someone who likes to try new things, is that Hughes offers a limited supply of "exotic" plants and tends to stick with the tried-and-true East Texas favorites. I desperately wanted to try my hand at Old-Fashioned Bleeding Hearts and Astilbe when updating the landscaping on our 1950's ranch-style home, but they were nowhere to be found. I encountered the same problem when looking for some more colorful shade-tolerant plants. That, and Hughes only accepts cash or check, but it's a small business, I can't really fault them for that.

However, it's not a perfect world, and for the price and the quality, I really can't complain. If you are an avid gardener like myself, planning any landscape projects in the future, or just like to look at pretty things, go to Hughes. You really won't regret it.

Hughes Plant Farm

19980 Us Highway 69 S, Tyler, TX 75703

(903) 894-7737

Read More

Making Introductions

Hello!

Welcome to Our Time in Tyler. Before we begin, let's cover a little background information:

Named for President John Tyler and nicknamed "Rose Capital of the World,"  Tyler, Texas has an estimated population of 107,405 as of 2014. (In local practice, the populations of surrounding small towns, the real small towns, are lumped in with Tyler's to effectively double the count.) Despite hosting three higher education institutions, Tyler is not a college town with a thriving nightlife. It is, for the most part, a retirement town and it typically does three things well: churches, hospitals, and roses. Tyler, regardless of size, has a pervading small-town feel, with charm and inconveniences alike.

That's where I come in: Kate, a listless 25-year-old college student. I've lived in a vast variety of places throughout my life, from Dallas to Seattle, Denver, and Orange County, before settling in Tyler to attend school near my family. After being in town for only one day, I went on my first date with my boyfriend Cody, and we've been together ever since. In only a few short years, we will be shipping off for my graduate school program (in who-knows-where), but for now, we've decided to do our best to explore our big small town.

So, in the days to come, I will be cataloging our best (and worst) experiences in Tyler and surrounding areas, whether it be at restaurants, shopping, outdoors -- you name it. Stay tuned!

Read More