City Escape Garden & Design Center

Very overpriced and unhelpful staff. I love BEING at this place – there is so much to look at and it’s very peaceful – but the unhelpful staff make it very unpleasant. The owner is especially rude and aloof – I don’t know how she keeps repeat customers with her attitude. If I’m considering buying a $ 1200 Japanese maple from you, you ought to answer my questions kindly and patiently, not with an inconvenienced attitude. If you do ending up buying something here, you’ll be dismayed when you find it for less than half the price anywhere else.

Great service and talented staff. Thoroughly enjoyed buying a fall gift for my wife. What a jewel in Chicago.

My friend and I were driving by when we saw the huge SALE sign. She sometimes shops here, and she loaded up the trunk with statues and other concrete things. Even though it was five months until Christmas, I bought some holiday merchandise at 75% off. (What can I say, I have a difficult time passing up bargains.)
Sometimes I zone out when I’m checking out, and when I got home realized they had only given me 50% off… they had overcharged me almost $ 40. An honest mistake easily fixed, I thought. So I went back a few days later and pointed out the mistake. But instead of offering me a refund, they said they would only give me the 75% discount on any additional holiday merchandise I bought.
Now, if this had been Home Depot or another national retailer, they would have returned the overcharge immediately. Large retailers have policies and procedures in place to correct errors. In contrast, «the manager» at City Escape decided to keep my $ 40.
The people who work here are friendly and helpful. The store has lots of interesting plants and pots and high end decorator accessories. And next spring, I’ll be shopping for this kind of merchandise to fill my large balcony. But I won’t be shopping here.
So it is what it is… my first one star review.

Wonderful selection, friendly staff and amazing customer service. I will be returning for my spring planting every year.

The beauty of the place will lure you in and the staff is friendly enough, but there is no follow up to questions related to service, exchanges, etc. and no one except the owner is poised to make a decision. either pre– or post-​sale. Take a walk through to enjoy the beauty and say a prayer that someone convinces the owner (s) that their business plan and customer service strategy are among the poorest.

Caveat I did not purchase anything there. Everything was pricier than most nurseries and didn’t see anything that special on the annuals side warranting that price. However if you’re in the market for unique vases, patio items or high end fake flowers this is the place. Those flower themed items you would see in an Architectural Digest or Town & Country magazine, can be found here. Their perennials were big, looked healthy and may be worth a second visit. Nice place to browse, had to look for help (did go on a weekday). Location is less than desirable.

This place is super expensive and they do not stand by there product. We have spent over $ 4K on plants with them. They sold us a fig tree last year that died right away. When I told them about it they said they do not offer a guarantee. But worse was their attitude. Very unapologetic. There is one very friendly woman that works there but the rest are rude and not as knowledgeable as they should be.

The variety of pots, household plants, fountains, trees, and gardening accessories is quite vast here.
It is really a lovely place to peruse through.
The owner and staff here are extremely pleasant and very knowledgeable.
While it is on the pricier side, the delivery and assistance they provide you is really great.

Stumbled upon City Escape while heading to Garfield Park Conservatory. My son and I needed some herb seedlings, and potting soil, and were hoping this place could fit the bill. Walking up to City Escape, we marveled at the Japanese Maples strung up by bamboo for sale. For a mere $ 1100! Ha. That’s when we knew this might not be a good place for just simple seedlings or flowers.
We did end up getting some organic herb seedlings, organic tomato plants, and organic cucumber. And while I’m happy to buy organic, we later saw similar plants at Home Depot for ½ of what I paid at City Escape.
For my normal gardening needs, City Escape may be overkill. Where they shine is high-​end plants, high-​end trees, unique patio furnishings to make your home or condo look special. We marveled at the found church lighting units, planters made out of dead trees, but couldn’t take a picture– no pictures allowed at City Escape!
The people here are really friendly, and it’s a lovely place, really; but too pricey for my gardening needs.

HORRID service. I have been a customer a few years, purchasing cute, but over-​priced items from the store so I decided to use them for landscaping to take care of an unsightly strip of city property near my house. I was very specific that I needed the entire area done and a contract was sent over. The wording led me to believe that a 5×10 area would have flowers and the rest mulched. After the job was done, ONLY THE 5×10 area was done PERIOD! $ 500 for a 5×10 area!!! I called to complain that all the emails and conversations were to have the entire area delt with.
Connie was mildly sympathetic but NOT REMORSEFUL OR HELPFUL NOR DID THEY OFFER ANYthing to appease my distress.
They have lost a customer and I am furious!

I have been a loyal customer of City Escape for many years, but I’m afraid this is my last. The selections are exquiste and displayed in a very creative manner.
The only problem is the owner. She acts annoyed if approached with any questions. I have never seen her smile at anyone. Spending my money there year after year and finding hostility in the atmosphere has turned me off so much that I can’t continue. Perhaps she needs to stay in the back room with the books, or sell.

beautiful indoor garden center with an outdoor garden for the summer. However, way too pricey!

I really wanted to like this place. They do have lots plants and patio stuff but It was lacking on actual gardening supplies. That’s not where the two stars are coming from. The place is WAY over priced and the 2 women encountered were a bit rude (although there was a very helpful gentleman). My first time here and my last. Who knew elite gardeners were out there. I’ve been gardening most of my life and I have never experienced an energy such as this from the older generation of gardeners.

I wish I could give this place zero stars. Let me explain:
I’ve been a gardener since I was about 3-​years-​old. I was spending my allowance on tulip bulbs when the other kids were buying toys. By the time I was 15 I was responsible for the landscaping and upkeep of all the yards and gardens in our neighborhood. I’m not new to the garden or to plants by any means.
My friend, Susan has been going here for about 3 years and I’ve been helping her get all her plants here and she’s spend well over 20 grand here on plants and pots and services. I have always gone to Jayson Home & Garden. This year I decided to try City Escape.
Well, it’s a beautiful place and the parking is great. They have everything you could want for your garden or patio. Problem is the accessories and pots are really overpriced. A fake orchid stem is 40 bucks? Ridiculous and not worth it.
Again, they have some great stuff, so about 3 weeks ago, my partner and I went there and spent 200 bucks right before closing in about 15 minutes. We bought lots of herbs (and when we asked the guy watering the herbs questions about the herbs, he had NO idea how to answer our questions) and then we bought a $ 50.00 hanging basket of fuschia. After I spent a while tracking someone down to ask for care of the hanging basket, she told me partial sun and regular watering and fertilize and mist the leaves every so often.
*I also took lots of pictures on this visit so I could put this place on my design/​home blog and site and promote them for FREE. Not happening now for sure.*
I’ve tried everything. Part sun, full shade, water, misting… the pot is moist and it’s not too wet and never dried out. The plant stays droopy and it’s going to die. I got fed up after trying really hard and following tons of online advice. Still no luck.
So, today I call them and talk to «Brenda» and I politely tell her the situation and tell her I was coming there to buy lots more stuff, that I’ve helped friends shop there and referred TONS of people there. She said I could not exchange the plant. I asked her the exchange policy and she said she would read it to me:
«NO returns on tropical houseplants or annuals.»
OK, well I didn’t want to return it… I wanted to exchange it… and it’s still at a stage where they should be able to save the plant if they actually know what they are doing. She said no. I tell her the policy says nothing about exchanges and she says flatly: «we won’t exchange it.»
Call me crazy, but I own my own company and if this were one of my clients, I would be nice and bend over backwards to make them happy. Especially if they send me referrals and spend more money and so on.
I asked her if she has seen the reviews on
where people are complaining about the horrible service, and pathetic owner (see this nursery review site:
) and how they never email customers back. She didn’t seem to care. That’s a dangerous place and a scary place when no one seems to care.
Word-​of-​mouth is very powerful and I fully intend on warning everyone I know about this place.
I ended up calling Jayson Home & Garden and told them what happened. They let me come to them and they are going to try to revive the plant AND they are giving me a discount on some other plants from them. Now, that is SERVICE.
**UPDATE: It’s been over a week since they said they would have the owner call me back. No one has called.**

LOOK AT MY Unilocal PROFILE PIC/​HEADLINE. HA! FERN LOVER MEETS HER LOVE IN THIS ONE!
I was here earlier today. What lured me to this place is, while walking west down Lake Street, I noticed several large fern plants next to the fence on the Lake side, and I asked an employee were they ferns and she said yes, and also told me to come inside. And when I came inside, my oh my, was I surprised.
Ferns, cacti, flowering plants, small, skinny evergreen shrubs, mulch, flower pots of many sizes, small lawn ornaments, man, lots of other neat items were spotted by me, inside and outside. And the cheapest thing I saw were small flowerpots containing small plants that will grow pretty big if taken care of. Their price: $ 5.99. Small ferns, and I love ferns oh so much which is why I have one representing me in my profile picture on here, cost only $ 14.99. I told the lady who lured me in here that July 31^st is my birthday and to celebrate, I’m purchasing one small fern for myself. That’s when I’m planning on returning.
And for the fall, I’m returning again to purchase a prickly pear cactus. I touched their leaves and they had fur no spikes. Their price: $ 31.99. Not bad at all baby!

It’s been almost two weeks, I have not received a response to my landscaping request that I submitted. I would love to have a professional come with some creative ideas for our urban area and provide an estimate. Any thoughts from those who have had success?

I made a trip out there just before the Holidays with some friends to attend a couple of classes on creating winter displays and planting bulbs in creative indoor planters. Got some great ideas for holiday gifts and festive decorations. Class was free and they were even serving fresh made beignets and coffee, bonus! :)
I was overwhelmed by the gorgeous holiday displays and at least a dozen trees with different themes and colors. They sold trees, ornaments, garland and more. Also had tribal art, wall hangings, bath and body care products and various other home décor items. Some things were fairly expensive but well made and worth the cost, lots of quite reasonably priced items too.
We happenned to have a 40% off coupon and the cashier was nice enough to let 4 of us use it on one giant purchase and we just got subtotals for everyone and settled up later. I got some really lovely ornaments, glass mushroom plant stakes and some gorgeous ornaments for gifts. For myself, found some really fantastic planters unlike anything I’ve seen at local stores. Nice scalloped designs, unique colors, very well made.
Definitely plan to go back in Spring for more ideas and goodies for the garden!

When you arrive at City Escape, you’re definitely taken aback by the fact that its really nice compared to its surroundings. The layout is wonderful and they have a lot of charming accessories. However, there are a few things that leave me conflicted of how much I really do like this place.
The prices on a lot of the plants are just a little too out there. There are some that are reasonably priced. But others… wow. For instance, I’ve had my eye on a jade plant there. It’s $ 300. I was convinced though that it shouldn’t possibly cost this much. I was right. I found a fuller jade plant elsewhere for MORE than half the price. Additionally, when I asked one of the employees at City Escape how to care for the prospective plant that I was interested in, the guy gave me some rather vague information for its care. I was kind of bummed.
City Escape does have good sales. Right now they have 40% off glazed pots (which is the majority of the pots that they have). However, my friend was in there literally two days before this sale started and not one person mentioned to him that maybe he should hold off on buying his $ 100+ pot. I understand that they want to make money, but the guy is in there ALL THE TIME. He felt swindled. I don’t know if its the associate to blame, or the owner who didn’t inform the employees of the huge sale that was coming up.
Speaking of their pots, they have a big section but their selections don’t include anything special. For the price, you would think that you were getting an elaborate looking pot, but in fact its rather plain.
The best thing about this place (and the only reason to shell out a lot of money) is the return policy on plants. A lot of their plants (especially the indoor ones) are quality so if it starts to look bad after a while they’ll take it back and let you exchange it.
If you’ve never been there, I would definitely check it out. But shop around to other nurseries before you make a pricey purchase. You may find something cheaper elsewhere.

I love this little nursery! I stopped in Saturday afternoon and this place wasn’t too busy and it was easy to shop around. City Escape was having a sale on all glazed pottery and I picked up about 6 pots and they are all so beautiful! I also picked up a unique house plant and some lavender.
City Escape has a vast variety of house plants, trees, flowers, vegetables, fountains, viewing globes, hanging baskets, planters, pots, and a few home décor items. The staff is very knowledgeable and friendly. There is also a huge parking lot and it’s right under the Lake Street el tracks so you can’t miss it. I know where I’m going next year for all my outdoor pots.

This is a really great place to come and find some unique and exotic plants… or some really regular typical plants too! The prices are very affordable as well. I ordered a ponytail palm online for about $ 50 and saw one sold here for only $ 15!!! They have a lot of plants housed inside the green house and also in the back yard. The staff is very helpful. The one thing I didnt like was the air ventilation in the green house. It got a little too stuffy and hot, and this was during the fall season! There is a private lot so parking is extremely easy here. Beautiful location with beautiful plants! Also easily accessible by CTA.