Leonardi’s Nursery

Leonardi’s Nursery has grown into one of St. Augustine’s most trusted garden centers, occupying a substantial stretch of Anastasia Blvd where rows of palms, tropicals, annuals, and perennials spill out toward the road, a visual signal to anyone driving by that this is a serious plant destination rather than a small seasonal stand. The business pairs retail plant sales with a landscaping division, giving customers a single source for both the plants themselves and the professional installation and design work to put them in the ground correctly.

The nursery’s selection reflects the specific challenges and opportunities of gardening in Northeast Florida’s coastal climate, heavy on salt and heat tolerant tropicals, palms suited to the barrier island environment, and a rotating selection of seasonal annuals and perennials that give local gardeners options throughout the year rather than just in a narrow spring window. Beyond plants, the shop carries hand painted pottery and other decorative garden items, letting customers complete a landscaping project or patio refresh in a single stop rather than sourcing containers separately from plants.

The business earned recognition in The St. Augustine Record’s Best of St. Augustine rankings for both best nursery and garden center and best landscaping service, a dual honor that speaks to the depth of the operation beyond simple retail plant sales. Having both recognitions under one roof means customers working with the landscaping team can source plant material directly from the same business handling design and installation, avoiding the coordination headaches that come with separating those services across multiple vendors.

Anastasia Blvd has developed into something of a secondary commercial corridor for St. Augustine, home to specialty retailers, antique shops, and service businesses that draw heavily from the local population rather than the tourist traffic concentrated in the historic downtown core. Leonardi’s fits that pattern precisely, serving homeowners and landscapers across St. Augustine and the surrounding barrier islands who need a reliable local source for quality plant material and knowledgeable advice about what actually thrives in the local growing conditions. For anyone tackling a landscaping project, refreshing a garden bed, or simply looking for a healthy tropical plant to bring home, Leonardi’s offers the kind of depth of selection and genuine horticultural knowledge that a big box home improvement store’s garden section rarely matches, all from an independently owned local business with decades of standing in the community.

The combined nursery and landscaping model also means the business employs staff who spend as much time in customers’ yards as behind the retail counter, giving the whole team a practical, field tested understanding of which plants actually survive Florida’s mix of intense summer heat, occasional cold snaps, and salt exposure near the coast, knowledge that translates directly into better guidance for anyone shopping the retail side alone.