Ballard-area residents love their gardens, whether it’s a luscious edible landscape or containers on the condo balcony, and we’re fortunate to have several interesting and unique independent nurseries in and around the neighborhood.

How about going on a fall plant expedition to check them all out? Late-summer and fall is a great time to take stock of your garden and snag some great deals at local nurseries with fall sales.

Starting up north in Blue Ridge, Swanson’s Nursery is the extravagant queen of Seattle nurseries.

Besides a large selection of beautifully tended annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees and more, Swanson’s offers weekend gardening seminars on a wide range of topics. Some upcoming seminar topics include Japanese Maple Selection and Care and Creative Fall Container Designs.

Afterward, grab lunch there at Alexa’s Café and nibble to the sound of a trickling fountain surrounded by tropical flora.

Then you could spend another few hours browsing their extensive range of plants and gardening gifts and accoutrements. The sales staff is helpful and knowledgeable, too, in case you want advice.

On Holman Road, just down the hill from Greenwood Avenue at Third Avenue Northwest, Piper’s Creek Nursery is open from March through early November each year.

Proprietor Alan Hensley specializes in drought-resistant and native plants, such as kinnikinnik for ground cover, vine maples, native grasses and sword ferns.

“Pacific Northwest native plants are the best anywhere," said Hensley, whose two grandmas were "legendary gardeners." "That’s what drew me here from Florida."

He’s selling off the ornamentals and only restocking native plants. This year, Hensley will be selling plants through Nov. 7.

Want to capture a bit of the tropics? After your visit to Piper’s Creek Nursery, head south on Third Avenue to Beauty and the Bamboo on 84th Avenue Northwest just west of Third Avenue (you need call to make an appointment first though).

Owner Stan Andreasen has converted his yard into a beautiful bamboo nursery with more than 35 varieties that grow well here in western Washington.

After you wander the pathways through bamboo groves interspersed with whimsical garden art, stop inside for a cup of fine Chinese tea and to discuss bamboo with Andreasen, who is passionate about the plant. He’s also happy to show you his collection of crystal rocks.

For you condo and apartment dwellers (and really anyone who likes succulents and container gardens), The Palm Room on Ballard Avenue is a little treasure box of unusual plants that will do well indoors.

Like Beauty and the Bamboo, they offer consulting and design services for your yard, balcony, patio or window boxes. Check out the hanging baskets of succulents that at first look like ferns. Then take a second look.

Walt's Organic Fertilizer is tucked into a cozy little shed on Leary Way just west of the Ballard Bridge, but their array of organic fertilizers and native plants spreads out back beyond the shop.

Originally a wholesaler of organic fertilizers developed by Walt Benecki, they expanded into native plants and now sell veggie starts and organic feed for chickens.

"Chicken stuff has seen a real increase in sales," said Benecki's wife Shirley Jane, who partners with Benecki in running the business.

Benecki's ethic is all about organic and green gardening. Set in a formerly industrial and now urban setting, their shop feels like stepping into a small rural store. Go there to taste a slice of country life in the city.

Walt's is open six days a week through October, then scale back to Saturdays or by appointment November through February.

Wind up your expedition down south on Leary Way in Frelard at Emerald City Gardens, another small independent nursery “trying to do a bit of everything," according to co-owner Jay Williams, self-described plant geek.

Emerald City Gardens, where they do have a yellow brick path but lack the flying monkeys, is open year-round and offers organic veggie starts and herbs during the winter that they grow in their onsite greenhouse.

Despite the close proximity to behemoth Fred Meyer's seasonal garden center, Williams said Fred Meyer’s is a good neighbor to them and occasionally refers customers since they do things a little bit different.

Emerald City Gardens prides itself on having possibly the largest variety of coleus plants in Seattle, which they propagate themselves.

Besides these nurseries, I’ve seen and heard word-of-mouth about avid Ballard-area gardeners who occasionally sell plants out of their home. Know any you’d like to tell us about? Leave a comment below, and happy gardening!

Seattle native and Crown Hill resident Jill Irwin is not the best gardener, and many of her plants survive in spite of her not-so-green thumb. She writes about things to do around the region at her blog Pacific Northwest Seasons.