Best of Boston

A garden plot or even a tiny flowerbox can provide welcome relief from pocked and pitted urban landscapes, a sense of having borrowed a bit of paradise. The tradeoff is that you have to do the dirty work to keep paradise looking pristine. Cue Mahoney’s, a flourishing local chain whose Brighton location is dense with fertilizers, soils, tools, and possibly the most wide-ranging selection of planters around, including biodegradable models. For those who haven’t yet started their own at-home oasis, the wealth of flora for sale—from fragile orchids to death-defying houseplants like pothos and dracaena—is sure to cultivate inspiration.