I've been a customer of The Tropics, for many years... first, with Ryan's Dad- and now with Ryan. Walking through the gates of this place, is a truly magical experience! The odd and gorgeous plants are freely interspersed with antiques & collectibles which inspires me to attempt design elements found here! What a Fantastic Place. Ryan always gives me a discount... sensing that my wallet isn't stuffed with greenbacks! I really appreciate his kindness, and hospitality. An Oasis in this Sweltering City! read more

Trustworthiness is broken into two parts: sincerity and competency. Ryan, the owner, fails to meet my minimal expectations with either. If you're persistent enough to spend two months texting Ryan -- and DMing him on Instagram -- you might manage to get a reservation to view the store. But, I highly recommend you save your time and shop elsewhere. They may have some pretty plants (i.e. 40-year-old spiral aloe), but the selection is rather homogenous and disappointingly limited. If you find some items that you like, you won't be given the prices same-day (they make most of their money renting plants and apparently set prices on a whim after judging prospective clients). I selected one pretty plant with aerial roots, grudgingly justifying the price tag and $100 intracity delivery fee. The invoice for payment was sketchy on multiple levels: first Ryan forgot to include one of the attachments, then he asked for my credit card details all written down (no online payments accepted), then he falsely promised more times than I could count on one-hand's-fingers to deliver the plant that day. Then, a month later, he said the payment he was just charging didn't work on the card (which was new but activated and shouldn't've been a problem), and then the replacement card didn't work either (really must be an error on his end). After several months of me patiently waiting on him, our interaction frustratingly ended with him accusing me of wasting his time, calling me names, and terminating the sale. Their 2.5 star rating is far too generous! Edit: The second card not working was my mistake as I didn't realize/forgot my bank had issued a replacement. Nevertheless, their response to my well-deserved review should confirm the rest. read more

ORIGINAL REVIEW 1/6/2023: We purchased $15,000 worth of plants from Ryan. The first problem was, he refused to take Amex, and in my experience, the only time a company won't take amex is because of their exceptional customer protection. The only way he would have taken the card is with a 10% fee...We took the four plants home, to a new construction with no plants whatsoever in the home. TWO showed signs of being diseased within a month which means we bought diseased, overpriced plants. With a lot of begging and a scathing yelp review, Ryan replaced one of the trees due to the mealybugs and spider mites. With the understanding that we delete our first review..Well, if you don't know, when you bring a diseased plant into your home, it can jump to the others. Just as, if he had multiple diseased plants in his shop, they were probably all diseased. So our most expensive tree contracted mealybugs and scale... This tree was so stunning when we bought it and now there are like 3 leaves on the entire tree. Let me make something eminently clear too, we have had multiple arborists working on a weekly basis watering, feeding, and assessing the trees condition and we have never been able to get a handle on the diseases. We basically just threw $15,000 down the drain. Every single expert explained that the tree was delivered damaged. We texted Ryan to let him know the situation with our beautiful tree and he just ignored us. We even called our lawyer to see if there was anything we could do and his invoice states that the second you walk out of his store, he is relinquished from any responsibility over his products. We never should have bought from him is the point. He is dishonest, has horrible communication, and charges way too much for diseased plants. Go somewhere else. And I will not be taking this review down. UPDATE 2/23/2023: Ryan, thanks so much for responding and showing your character for prospective customers. Let me clear up all of your questions and concerns you left in your response to my review. 1. We absolutely could have used a different card other than Amex, as I explained before, they offer a tremendous amount of protection to their customers far beyond other cards. With the horrible business you do, I can not imagine you wanting to have a threat like that to your money. 2. Second, thank you for correcting me on my "ignirance", but for future, its spelled ignorance. 3. To address what you said about our "construction site". Remember coming to the house with a big smile and hand selecting the plants that you thought would look and live best in our space? Looks like you didn't have much concern about the KILER DUST then? You're referring to a complete home with a certificate of occupancy with incomplete landscaping but I wouldn't expect you to know anything about that. 4. As to the arborists that you called a joke...funny, but you recommended our first one. 5. Calling someone a typewriter coward is BOLD considering you ignored our messages and calls when we tried handling this with you directly and eventually BLOCKED us. I'll attach a photo of our text thread to jog your memory. 6. I urge you to actually stand behind your service and your plants and respond to our multiple messages and replace the damaged plants you sold us. 7. As far as your issues with the ego's of people in LA and their yelp "slander", I wouldn't be too confident either having two stars on my business. Just a tip, speaking negatively TO & ABOUT your customers probably won't make your situation any better but what do I know. 8. To finish off my response, I'll just say, thank you for literally proving you are a perpetual liar. Only a few sentences ago you said that we put our plants in a construction site but finished off your hostile response saying you didn't know who I am. Which is it Ryan? read more

Such a bad service. Came all the way from Santa Monica and the guy said they are closed and by appointments only. Just avoid going there. read more

terrible terrible customer service! WOW! An employee walked right by me (I'm assuming she's an employe at this point) so I said "hi" to get her attention and she walked away. I walked to catch up with her and I asked if she worked here in case she didn't ...she said "yes" reluctantly and I said "ok hi" again and she stared at me as tho I was inconv her. I asked if she had certain item and she walked away...(I'm assuming she does have it sonce she didn't speak or say anything, just turned and walked) so I followed. she stopped and she was speaking in the opposite direction of me...I said "I'm sorry I didn't catch that" she proceeded to say "no, we don't I don't think." Im a local and this left a Very sour taste and a very unpleasant experience for me for my first and only time here. read more

Greatest place in LA with the most exceptional pieces ( plants) Ryan we have bought from you for so many years and guided us so well THANK YOU read more

If you're the owner PLEASE stop using Clorox and Lysol on your floors - your store smells ATROCIOUS!! Seriously you sell $500 candles but your store smells so bad - it's literally had to leave!!! read more

I wandered in with a friend and was blown away by the selection. It feels like you are walking through another place in the world. It really takes your mind to another place. No, this is not the Home Depot garden section. This is a place that has existed for 40+ years in a rough neighborhood and flourished. So if you go in looking for deals, you probably won't be happy. But for what you're getting, their prices looked pretty reasonable to me. Ron is a warm guy who truly has a passion for plants. And their selection is bar none, the best I've ever seen. read more

I have been using The Tropics since they opened and I have seen them grow and the variety of plants is absolutely incredible. RON has indeed a passion for what he does and he scours far and wide to find the unusual and the very special plants that they offer. I am an interior and landscape designer and I've selected plants from them for my clients and my own use throughout the years. Some of the plants they've sold me are still thriving twenty years later. As well, they have a selection of interesting and unusual containers for them. As a designer, I'm constantly on the lookout for the extraordinary item to use in my work because I want to present my clients with something they haven't seen before. Nine times out of ten The Tropics has it. As far as price, the special item I'm after and that I find there is worth the price. If you want inexpensive and ordinary, go to Home Depot. read more

The Tropics - This plant is over twenty years old and it blooms only at night and one night only. The flowers are as big as dinner plates. - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - W Hollywood, California

This is literally the worst place of business I've ever encountered - EVER. Plants, cars, any goods or services... they should not be in business as they could care less about their clients, their plants are infected and there is no customer care what-so-ever. It's rather shocking that people like Ryan exist in todays world. If Lisa S thinks this place is for the elite... i got news for you... The elite, or anyone for that matter, don't like being treated like pond scum when spending large sums of money on high-end plants that die within weeks. My experience was appalling. Any designer that recommends their clients to buy beautiful trees from The Tropics should be warned. read more

Within a month of buying my expensive plant, the leaves started turning brown/black. Ryan doesn't answer the phone or stand by his plants. Avoid this place! read more

Rude worker- Don't waste your time going here. I went in a few weeks back and approached a worker in the back for help. He sort of gave off the vibe that he did not want to help me but grudgingly said he would when I asked. I waited patiently for around 10 minutes looking around waiting for his help, but he just continued what he was doing and ignored me. I ended up leaving and going down the street to another nursery. I would say spend your money elsewhere. Maybe the owners will hire workers who actually want to sell people plants. Hopefully they will see this. read more

Shit service, no one answers, phone number dissabled. Great product and quality, would be nice to match that with client services

I've been calling all day and no one ever picks up the phone. It just rings and rings and rings until it doesn't. Says enough about their service. read more

Scam. Spent approximately $10,000 on diseased plants with root rot, severed roots from replanting and poor care instructions. Ryan will ignore every text and call. All plants have died within a month and a half of following Ryan's care instructions. Do not support this business. read more

Don't shop here. The plants are diseased or just not good quality. I bought a fig tree $273 and it's less than a month and the leaves are browned and falling off. Yes I researched first how to care for one. The guy that is the sales person is not the best to work with. He wasn't rude but he wasn't friendly. They don't take returns or do exchanges - u won't know that till you get your receipt printed out ( where it's listed - after you bought it ) read more

Awful experience here. Was made to feel good on install but a number of trees died despite assurances and very expensive pricing. Not even an effort on behalf of the store to make things right even after we followed their instructions on care and maintenance to the letter. I feel taken advantage of and would never use this establishment again. The whole experience felt extremely disingenuous. We were sold two diseased trees and they refused to rectify the situation. What supposedly high-end business doesn't stand behind their product when it's defective? Stay away, stay very far away. read more

The indoor area / houseplant area is nice, spacious, and aesthetic, and I really wish I could give this place a better review since they do have very large, nice specimen quality house plants that are somewhat harder to find, but there are unfortunately some serious problems with how they do business and treat people. The outdoor area of this place is very similar to Way to Go Palms, but smaller, less impressive, and much more expensive. The owner of Way to Go Palms is also a pleasure to do business with, unlike this place. I was treated poorly and unprofessionally by the owner, (however the other people working there who were working and moving plants around were nice.) I was friendly and polite and I already knew the names and care requirements of most of the plants. I don't expect great customer service, but when the owner finally had time to talk to me, he was remarkably unfriendly, aloof, unprofessional, and unpleasant. He hardly made eye contact, and he just stood around with his hands in his pockets and he gives terse, condescending replies or he just ignores your when you ask questions like you aren't even there. It really made me feel unwelcome. Only some of the plants have names and prices. I knew the botanical names of the plants for sale better than the owner, who didn't even know the names of some of his plants even though they weren't that unusual. Some of fhe plants here were somewhat uncommon, but there was nothing I saw that was that rare. Prices are ridiculous and the highest I have seen anywhere, at least 2 to 10 times more expensive what you would pay elsewhere. You can find the same plants for much better prices in the Valley or Orange County. - A large Tillandsia xerographica, not in bloom: $100 - A small/medium Tillandsia xerographica, not in bloom: $60 - 4 short stems of Chamaedorea metallica in one pot: $70 - An about 10 to 12 foot tall, narrow, leggy Ficus triangularis with sparse leaves in about a 5 gallon black plastic pot : $700 - A medium size Kalanchoe beharnensis, common form, about 2 and a half feet tall with two stems: $200 - A medium size Philodendron martianum: $200 - A 3 to 4 foot tall Clusia major/rosea bush: $600 - What the owner said was a "big bird" Anthurium, he wasn't sure what the species was. I knew it was some kind of "birds nest Anthurium". The various kinds are variable and look rather similar to each other when not in bloom so I can't be sure of the species/hybrid): $100 for 3 leaves. There were also several cats roaming around, they let me pet them so I don't think they were strays. Bad neighborhood to leave your cats out. Very busy traffic. read more

Unfortunately, I have to confirm that most of the reviews mirror my own experiences. I've been a customer of theirs for more than 25 years, been willing to overpay, rather than scour Orange, Ventura, and San Diego for what I want. But every time I go there, I am treated like dog meat. I am a sophisticated plant buyer with huge knowledge and experience, but was blown off the last time I was there. I was told (after being quoted an outrageous price) "oh well, 95% of our sales are for celebrity homes." Hope the celebrities are happy. You won't be. read more

These plants look gorgeous and the place is magical but I've literally been 4 times now and still not gotten to but a thing. Twice they were closed during hours they stated they were open and the other two times I went in and picked out all my plants and went to look for someone who could tell me prices and ring me up. Finally found someone who told me they worked here buy didn't know any prices and couldn't ring me up and they didn't know when someone would be there again who could. Have never bought anything here at all. read more

Came here on a work day. Beautiful place. Walked around for 30 min couldn't find a single sales person. There's no price tag on anything either. Is this place only for interior designers? Felt like I just walked through a botanical garden. I'm so confused. read more

One of the most unique plant nurseries in LA. Plants are high quality and well cared for. I met Ryan and he spent a lot of time showing me around and introducing some of the coolest specimens I've ever seen. This is not Armstrong, people! It's like a living art gallery. Don't expect price tags on everything as each plant is unique and sculpted in itself. If you're just looking for a 5gal agave, you might want to go elsewhere. If you're looking for something that very few people have and will transform your home environment, this is the place. Beautiful plants and no lack of great service and attention even though I didn't buy anything (yet). read more

The most exquisitely curated plant.....nursery? I wouldn't call it a nursery It's more like a plant gallery. The place is perfection. Ryan has elevated plant design to an art form. You'll have to go to see what I mean. This place isn't for your average houseplant shopper, it's elite. read more

This place is pretty terrible. I will give the short version for people who want a quick review first. There is only one reason to ever be a customer here: you are looking for an extremely rare species and want the largest one in all of Los Angeles and are willing to pay more than $10k.  If you want rare species in small to medium sizes, go to Desert Creations in Northridge.  If you want rare species in medium to large sizes, go to Way to Go Palms in Yorba Linda.  If you want something common to uncommon, go to OC Succulents in Torrance. Now I'll provide the long version.   -The website hours are inaccurate.  I have visited the shops when their website says they would be open, but they are closed.  I told Ryan (the owner's son/owner) but he clearly doesn't care.  The website has not been updated. -Their prices are RIDICULOUS.  They typically charge two to ten times what other places charge.  Want a "mound builder"  (Deuterocohnia brevifolia) that they have so many of?  That'll cost several thousand.  Go to Desert Creations and you can get a similar size one for ~$100.  Want a Draco Palm?  That'll be $5k.  Go to OC Succulents and it'll be $2k for the same size. -The owners are rude.  Went there when Ryan wasn't there.  Asked employees for prices (NOTHING is labeled).  They couldn't provide them and said they had to wait for Ryan.  Asked Ron, the owner/Ryan's dad.  He didn't know the prices.  Finally, Ryan showed up.  I asked him how much the plant was.  He said, "Oh, I don't know...about $5,000?"  Now don't get me wrong, I'm EXACTLY his clientele.  I WILL spend $5,000 on a plant, so he wasn't scaring me off with that, but why is it "about $5,000?"  Why haven't you thought of a price until this instant?  It just seemed like he didn't care, thought I was not willing to drop that kind of money, and was blowing me off."  I inquired about the price of another plant.  He said it was "I guess about $8,000."  Again, give me a damn price!  Not "about".  The plant he wanted to sell me for $5k, I got at Way To Go Palms for $700 (a tall, multi-headed aloe dichotoma).  The plant he wanted to sell me for $8,000 I got a bigger version of from Desert Creations Nursery for $4,500 (an Operculicarya Pachypus). -You're better off going somewhere with accurate hours, real customer service, and decent prices.  With customer service like this, The Tropics Inc will be out of business in a few years anyway. read more

I went here in 07 and there seemed to be more helpful staff back then. I went back last week and no one there would help me and no one knew what plants were what. Both the owner and who I believe was his son, could care less about my business. Many old specimens but you'll never afford them, prices are triple what I've seen at La Cienega Nursery or California Cactus Center which are much more firendly, reasonable nurseries. read more

Purchased a $2,000 tree from them. They did a half ass job of planting the tree. After 1 month the tree died , they keep promising to replace it. However it has been 4 months and nothing. They do not stand behind the products they sell. read more

This is one of those places that when you walk in you are just blown away. There are no other nurseries in Los Angeles that even compare. They have the most exotic indoor and outdoor plants that you've never seen. I got some species that I couldn't even find pictures of online (just references in wikipedia and the like). They also have some of the best modern pottery that you can find anywhere. Its run by an older gentleman and his son who really know the art of plants. They will barter with you and accommodate. They were able to order many things for me that I did not see there. I purchased an entire truck load of plants from them. Two or three I ended up exchanging and they drove out and picked them back up and gave me the new ones at no charge. Be prepared to pay for the exoticness of any plants you get there. So only buy what you cant find anywhere else otherwise you will have overpaid. If you plan on buying any plants, you need to visit this place, if for nothing else, ideas. read more

A fantastic place to spend 15 or 20 minutes wandering around in wonder. The presentation was excellent throughout, and some of these specimen plants, from large to huge were stunning. The pots were also great. The prices however are not on the plants, and are along the lines of if you have to ask, you probably can't (or won't want to) afford it variety :-) read more

These people have no clue. Ryan and Ron are super short with you and always seem to be annoyed to have to explain anything, especially Ryan. Is it that hard to be nice to customers/people, or helpful? Grow up. An open dialogue goes a long way. Even at a simple nursery the people are fake. LA is just awful. read more

We have a Spanish Colonial home and few places match the unique offering we found at this nursery!

These people know what they're doing! They are incredibly knowledgable about rare plants and have the largest selection of interesting plants in LA that I have ever seen. Yes, they are a little pricey. Sometimes excellence comes at a price. read more

rude, smug, unfriendly. and absurdly overpriced. stay away. plenty of other great nurseries in LA.

I have tried to literally purchase plants there .. and no help. They were going to order stuff for me then forgot .. They were going to come survey my place and forgot. Honestly you get better help at home depot read more

The selection of plants are amazing - hard to day what their prices are - went one Saturday at 3 pm - they were closed - next day at 4 pm - walked in - they said they were closing - just called on a Monday and phone rang 20 rings - no answer = hours online say they are open until 5 pm. They may have nice plants but come across as a poorly run family owned business subsidized by Prop 13 read more

There aren't enough bad things I can say about this establishment. From the terrible customer service to the up charges after the fact and finally to the products they sell. Ryan and his father sell you one item and deliver another. When you try and find out why, they berate you and treat you unprofessionally-I cannot repeat the expletives they hurled at both me and my partner. Stay far away. I'm a customer who spent thousands of dollars with them so if they do it to me there's 100% likelihood it will happen to you! read more

The Tropics is out dated and dirty. When you walk in in reeks of RAW SEWAGE... The service is horrible. You can not find anyone to help you. I wondered around for at least 20 mins..Nothing. The plants are ok, but if you know your stuff you can find them else where for a fraction of the price and those places don't smell like crap. read more

Love this place. Ryan is super knowledgeable and helped us out with picking plants that would work in the space we needed to fill. We were able to get the plants and pots delivered and installed within a couple hours. Their selection is unbeatable, and have the most unique plants in the area. Fell in love with Bodhi Trees here. read more

BEST KEPT SECRET IN LA! The tropics are by far the best plant place to go to! If you are looking for any kind of indoor or outdoor plant, they have it! From basic to exotic they have a pretty wonderful selection to choose from. When you walk in you feel like you're in a tropical paradise; it's like nothing I've even seen from a plant store before (if you even call it that). I work for a showroom on Melrose Ave and we originally hired a plant guy to come in and fill/decorate the entire showroom with wonderful plants. Little did we know he completely screwed us over and gave us mostly outdoor plants which ended up dying in our showroom just a month later. At this point we were in a huge financial burden, and I called about 10 plant places around the Los Angeles area for prices on a similar plant that would cost us the least amount of money. It seamed that every store was giving us a price range way out of our budget. When I called the tropics they were very nice, listened to my plant sob story. The owner Ryan and his employee Wes was so wonderful and understanding of our situation he gave us a great deal. And the plant installation fee was incredible cheap for 8 7 foot Kentia Palm's which is incredible. They took all our old dying ones out and brought they new pretty Palms in, as well as watered them, trimmed some of my other plants in the showroom that they didn't even get for us, and gave me excellent plant advice and techniques on all of my plants in the showroom. And to top it all off they came back in the showroom a week later free of charge to water the plants and check up on everything because they knew I was going out of town. I could not be more pleased with how everything turned out, and they exceeded my expectation more than I could even imagine!! I would recommend them to anyone and will return whenever I need any plants or plant advice! I have finally found my go to plant place and I could not be more pleased it's the Tropics! read more

A fabulous tropical paradise experience on Santa Monica Blvd!!! Worked there for 5 years in the '80s.. my absolute favorite job!!...Visited recently and it's only gotten better! The best people, and an incomparable selection of unique plant specimens, along with one of a kind, interesting containers. The whole place is wonderfully full of carefully selected plant varieties; pieces of beautiful, mind-blowing natural sculpture, all artistically displayed in a way that you'll soon wish you could just move in, or at least take a lot of it home with you!! Paradise. read more