BOISE, Idaho — Just off Hill Road in Boise, Madeline George Garden Design Nursery is getting ready for a full bloom of customers searching for ideas and expert advice to create beautiful, sustainable spaces in Idaho's unique climate.
Owner and principal designer Kecia Carlson started the business 25 years ago, blending a love for design with her passion for gardening. Carlson comes from a family of Idaho gardeners — her father's side homesteaded in Homedale and her mother's side in Jordan Valley. She joked that she was the kid in college who had the most plants in her dorm room "when it wasn't cool to have plants."
After spending 15 years in corporate America and attending an intensive landscape design program at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, Carlson decided it was time to "hang out her shingle."
"I just love the challenge of a good design because each part of everybody where they live is so unique," Carlson said.
Watch to learn more about Madeline George Garden Design & Nursery.
"It's really fun to create something that's, not just beautiful, but it's meaningful for people, and then, and then they take away the joy of seeing it evolve and grow," Carlson said.
Fifteen years into the business, she added the nursery to provide a curated selection of plants suitable for the Treasure Valley's dry climate. Carlson noted that 25 years ago was the height of the push toward xeric, or water-wise, gardening — a natural catalyst for her business. Today, 90% of the plants at the nursery are drought-tolerant, including roses, lilacs, viburnums, and many conifers.
"We always bring things to the front and center of what's blooming right now," Carlson said.
From viburnums to Japanese maples, every plant is selected to thrive locally and benefit the area. Carlson noted that the Treasure Valley is a unique, high-mountain plain with no humidity and challenging soils — either heavy clay or very sandy. That makes education on watering systems, mulch, and soil texture critical, especially for newcomers.
To help customers navigate those challenges, the nursery is organized by exposure and height. Perennials for sun are grouped together and organized by how tall they grow, while shade plants are kept in a separate area.
The nursery also features several distinct, stylized areas to help customers visualize different garden styles, including a shade garden, a "mountain resort" area featuring fire pits and drought-tolerant plants, a formal "statuary classics" garden, and a natives area featuring tree yuccas that harmonize with the sage-colored Boise foothills.
Carlson said the nursery focuses on smaller form trees and plants, rather than being a large-tree landscape nursery, catering to people living in smaller residential areas. Her personal favorite plant? The Geum, which she said she "would plant all over the world" because they "bloom and bloom and bloom."
The name "Madeline George" comes from Carlson and her husband's favorite storybook characters: the little French girl Madeline and Curious George.
The nursery itself is built with unique local history. The buildings are constructed from the salvaged old track from Boise College (before it was Boise State University). The track was originally imported from Sweden or Finland for the U.S. Olympics in Los Angeles before making its way to Boise. The nursery also features repurposed warehouse windows salvaged from the Gate City Steel building after it burned down.
Carlson noted that 90% of the products they carry are made in the United States. The plants are grown domestically (many evergreens come from Oregon), the statuary is made by a company in Georgia using old forms, and most of the metalwork comes from a small company in Portland.
Madeline George is a place to learn, offering monthly public garden talks on the first Saturday of every month and one-on-one consultations to help customers design their own spaces.
"We're really very geared toward helping people make good choices, but also having them have the enjoyment of doing it. Because it's really fun," Carlson said.
Carlson said new gardeners often struggle with overwatering, advising that "less is more" and that watering deeply but less frequently is the key to success. She said she won't let a customer leave the register without a small lesson on how to plant and water their purchase.
The nursery steers beginners away from high-maintenance plants like lavender, instead recommending easier, drought-tolerant options like nepeta (catmint), geum, and penstemon. They also highlight native shrubs like the Aronia, which is drought-tolerant, feeds pollinators, provides berries for birds, and has amazing fall color.
The business is actually three-fold: the nursery, the garden design company, and a landscape construction company called Think Green, which is run by her husband. Carlson said the demand for landscaping and gardening in the area is currently "off the charts" due to the region's rapid growth.
Even the resident dog, Buck, is part of the experience, greeting visitors as they explore the nursery.
Carlson said the benefits of gardening go beyond just aesthetics, and you don't need a massive yard to get started.
"It doesn't matter if it's just a little patio off your apartment deck... create those spaces that are really meaningful," Carlson said.
For small-space gardening, the nursery carries columnar apple trees and espalier forms (trees trained to grow flat against a wall), which are popular in Europe and perfect for tight spaces. The nursery also features a garden market area focused on edibles, including perennial herbs, vegetables, and edible flowers like nasturtiums and violas. They carry seeds from local companies like Snake River Seed Cooperative to support local growers.
For indoor gardeners, the nursery carries houseplants managed by a dedicated houseplant manager, and caters to the growing trend of people building greenhouses in the valley to grow citrus and other non-hardy plants.
"Even just bringing habitat and wildlife into your space is, it's just beautiful. And so I would encourage people to try a little bit of gardening," Carlson said.
Carlson said there is "no better time of the year to visit a nursery than right now," as everything is pushing new growth and putting on a show.
Madeline George Garden Design Nursery is open seven days a week.
