MOANA NURSERY: GOODIES FOR GARDENERS IN SOUTH RENO

My maternal grandmother was a gardening guru.  Her fiercely-guarded back yard plots at our modest Chicago home yielded ravishing roses and bushels of spectacular vegetables: big, juicy, beefsteak tomatoes, green beans, fragrant cucumbers,  green peppers, chives and more.  Oh, the delicious salads and side dishes we ate every summer!

I didn’t inherit my grandma’s green thumb.  My attempts at growing any kind of plant — either edible or ornamental — have never panned out.  But lately I’ve yearned to give it another try, maybe in a small container.  Because I lack gardening skills, my project must be inexpensive and idiot-proof.  I’d be mad at myself if I invested a lot of time and money, only to produce a weed.

For inspiration and ideas, I made a trip to Moana Nursery, 11301 S. Virginia St. in South Reno. 

This wasn’t the biggest or best garden center I’ve ever visited.  For that, it would be hard to top Molbak’s in Woodinville, Washington:   http://www.molbaks.com/

But my needs are simple.  I’m aiming to plant a little pot of something that’s easy to grow, preferably something yummy to eat.

I wandered around and looked at Moana Nursery’s nice selections of garden tools, decorations, trees, perennials, pots, potting soils and so on.

I loved these small containers of purple, crimson and magenta flowers, similar to those that my family had in window sill planters at our last house in the Chicago area. (The planters broke the following winter when they got weighed down by several feet of heavy snow!)

Then I spotted Moana Nursery’s variety of herb and vegetable starts, including basil, chives, cilantro, tomatoes, onions and more.  All right, this place might have the resources I need, if or when I figure out what to plant — and how.

Since I was “just browsing” today, I was glad that employees at Moana Nursery didn’t pounce on me.   On a return visit, with an actual plan in mind, I would hope that it wouldn’t be hard to find a clerk who could answer my questions.

According to Moana Nursery’s Web site, several gardening seminars and special events are planned in the coming weeks.   For more information, call (775) 853-1319 or visit 

http://www.moananursery.com/ .