Art Knapp’s Plantland

The final garden center stop on the IGCA Congress tour was Art Knapp’s Plantland, the company’s flagship store.

The garden center touts its selection of unique, imported furniture, which is beautifully displayed.

Attractive vignettes help lead shoppers through the extensive home décor department, which includes everything from large furniture pieces to artwork. The home décor department was just beginning its transition into the Christmas season, which one of the employees admitted is a little earlier than usual. But, Art Knapp’s does Christmas so well, they wanted to make sure everyone on the tour had a chance to see it. I especially liked the Asian-inspired Christmas display (pictured).

IGCA Congress - Stop One: Art Knapp's Urban Garden

More than a dozen different countries are represented on this year's International Garden Center Association (IGCA) Congress. The three tour buses full of people visiting Vancouver's finest garden centers are melting pots of garden retail for the next five days. The tour promises to provide of host of ideas for everyone to take back home to their own operations, and day one certainly did that. The first stop was Art Knapp's Urban Garden.

Art Knapp’s Urban Garden is located in the heart of downtown Vancouver. A unique atmosphere and product mix cater perfectly to the garden center’s demographic – young urbanites and condo dwellers.

Because of the recent explosion in high rise condo construction over the last few years, The Urban Garden has adjusted its product inventory to include more home décor pieces and indoor/tropical plants (or, living art, as they call it). There are also plenty of cool containers planted up for condo owners looking for something easy but different to drop on the balcony.

The garden center also does a particularly good job of promoting the benefits of indoor plants, effectively using signage to tout plants’ ability to clean the air we breathe.