For years I had heard about the fabled Swansons Nursery, a lush expanse smack in the middle of the city consisting of a gardening store, a gift shop, a full scale cafe, a kiddie playhouse and even a themed holiday model train setup. So Rio and I ventured down to the city on a crisp & sunny November day to finally see what Swansons was all about and we were pleasantly surprised at how much there is to do & see amidst the pallets of plants and trees.

As a kid who was drug to every plant section in each of the hardware stores within a 10 mile radius from my childhood home, I would have killed for a nursery like Swansons. Sure there’s plants to be had but Swansons has cleverly hidden them between non botanical displays with plenty to catch the wandering eye of a bored child.

As we headed into the nursery, we were greeted by a tremendous apatosaurus sculpture covered in green lights and though I had to keep Rio from scaling it’s tail, I thought it was the perfect mascot for a gardening store that appeals to all ages. Apparently the Dino’s name is Humphrey and he’s been a Swansons resident since 2016.

After bidding adiu to ‘ol Humphrey, we headed back to the koi ponds which are in themselves worth a visit alone. There are two ponds situated indoors near the cafe teeming with the largest koi I have ever seen in my life. They were seriously ginormous and I think Rio could have sat there for hours watching them swim around.

I wasn’t expecting much from the cafe, after all it is located smack in the middle of a gardening center, but I was absolutely stunned by the quality and caliber of the food that emerged from its kitchen. Our breakfast sandwich; bacon, egg and cheese atop a fluffy biscuit with a side of tomato jam, reveled anything to be found in a stand alone cafe elsewhere, and I would return to Swanson’s just for a taste of it again. Especially that tomato jam, which I honestly only got a taste of as Rio quickly laid claim to it. Seriously it was that good and coupled with the fact that you are dining surrounded by giant koi and lush beautiful plants, I felt for a moment as if I was in a tropical paradise somewhere.

After devouring our breakfast, we headed out to find the piece de resistance, the reason for our seasonal sojourn to Swanson’s that day, the infamous Christmas model train setup. Every year Swansons changes the theme of its train island and though this was my first year actually seeing it in person, I can only imagine that previous years were just as detailed. Treehouses was the theme this year and from Avatar to the Swiss Family Robinson’s to an ornate Ewok village, all the major treehouses in popular lore were covered.

There was so much to look at, from little cutaway niches to treetop action scenes and there is even a fun scavenger hunt to go along with it all. I liked the fact that the scavenger hunt isn’t overly easy too; Rio & I spent a solid 10 minutes searching for Hei Hei, Moana’s rooster side-chic, but we never did find him. However, this just adds another reason to go back to Swanson’s though, if I’m being honest, that tomato jam is reason enough.

Swansons Nursery

9701 15th Ave NW Seattle, WA 98117

Open Daily 9am-7pm

206-782-2543