Like the store, go there every spring and summer. Perfect spring afternoon, 2:30 pm, every housewife in Ames is there. 33 cars in the lot. 1 gal helping outside customers, inside customers, and running the register. I notice what looks like the boss lady diddling on her computer in the office. This is your prime time, the time to shine, give people the reason to come there not the alternatives, not to sit in your office. read more

I absolutely love this place. My husband and I constantly go here to check out plants, mostly house plants. The person working the front desk gives us coupons for our next purchase (who is very nice), then I go back again. My only problem is one of the house plants I bought from here has gnats, but don't let that stop you! Just inspect the soil closely. read more

They're open year round, that's my number one fave. The one employee I interacted with provided pretty good customer service, that's two. Their prices seem fair and I saw all the necessities, so three checks I like them . I'm new to the green thumb club and I was able to find what I needed there. There's a ton of cool decorative items for someone that isn't into plants but still wants to create a pretty space. read more

A pet store in the middle of a garden center...who would have thunk it? The animals are not being taken care of properly and I address an associate about it and his words are "well they aren't here very long" It doesn't matter how long they are there for, you need to give them the best care possible. There was a dying Green Anole in the corner and I told the guy to check on him and he wasn't moving so the guy threw him in the trash can and I'm like what are you doing he is still alive. There is fecal matter from the Anoles and frogs all over the enclosure. One of the Anoles isn't even a Green Anole as displayed, it is a Bahamian Anole. They don't even know what they have in there. One Green Tree Frog had fecal matter stuck to his side and it had been there for a while. The cage's humidity levels were not where they should be the frogs looked too dry. None of the reptiles looked healthy. The Red Ear Slider tank had no basking bulb, only a infrared heat bulb, which just is not sufficient, they need a Neodymium basking bulb. Also the plastic crate that was used to make the basking platform I really hope that plastic in inert and not leeching unwanted toxins into the water. Btw the heat lamp while I was there was not on the tank and was pointed at a plastic hood setting off to the side and if they left it like that then they most likely melted the hood. (point of this is to show how careless they are being) Then we have the small animals. As I was walking past the enclosures I could smell the strong pine bedding they were using and it was bothering my breathing. If it was bothering me so bad how do you think those little animals feel day in and day out. That's why you are not to use pine with small animals it give them respiratory infections. The associate was even aware that they should be using Aspen bedding but what is his excuse..."They are only here for a short period of time". The feeder cricket's cage was just down right appalling. There was a 1/4 layer of dead crickets all along the bottom. They didn't have a good food source and I could tell the crickets have been eating the other crickets. So these crickets are having to resort to cannibalism. As the old saying goes you are what you eat and these crickets are being fed to the animals there and it does not look like they are gutloading the crickets which give the reptile and amphibians the right nutrients they need. Poor care and poor diet.....this place has n o business selling animals. None of their small tropical house plants are labeled. I know a couple of them but didn't know what the rest was and not knowing what they are I don't know how to care for them and what to expect. I would never buy the animals at this location and I highly suggest no one does. These animals aren't 100% healthy probably not even 75% maybe less. The point is with this much miss care you don't know what level of poor condition the animal is in. I called the manager today and expressed my concerns and he bites my head of telling me not to tell him how to do his job and take care of the animals and just being very immature about it and just hangs up on me when I try to explain this isn't about me telling him how to do his job it's about me being concerned for the animal's well being. As far as what they are really, a garden center, all that looked great but they have no business having or selling animals. The prices of the animals were too high as well. read more