Our Story
Back in 1976, two friends from Boulder, Colorado ventured to Tucson, Arizona in search of jewelry and cactus to purchase and resell. Over the course of their travels in Arizona, they discovered there was no shortage of artisans offering turquoise jewelry, but cactus growers were in short supply. At one of their stops, they were told if cactus was what they were searching for, they needed to head to Vista, California. They made a mental note and proceeded back to Colorado with jewelry and plants in hand.
Silver Mesa founders circa 1976
Then one day, they came across some potted cactus for sale at a local florist shop. The plants were tagged with information about a grower located in… you guessed it, Vista. It was at that moment they decided to make the trek to Vista – a city north of San Diego, known for its Mediterranean climate with mild winters and warm summers.
Some years later, they purchased a nursery property in Vista to house the cacti and succulents they collected from many of the local growers. These prized plants were transported from Vista to a full-scale nursery operation they had established in Westminster, Colorado under the name Silver Mesa Nursery. Silver Mesa sold a wide variety of potted cacti and succulents to florist shops and nurseries all along Front Range Colorado before later earning vendor agreements with several major grocery and home improvement retailers in the region. Silver Mesa would grow to become the largest cactus and succulent nursery in Colorado; with company sales and revenues increasing steadily from the 1990’s to the early 2000’s.
Silver Mesa founders circa 1989
It was at this point in their business history together when the friends came to a fork in the road. One of the friends, with the help of his wife (and eventually their daughter & son-in-law), would continue with the business, while the other friend went on to pursue a successful career in art. Their friendship continues to this day.
Fast forward to 2012, when Silver Mesa, now based solely in Vista, would undergo a renaissance with the company’s focus shifting from potted cacti and succulents to glass terrariums. Similar to past efforts, the company’s new direction started small but grew rapidly with the addition of vendor agreements with several major grocers resulting in Silver Mesa’s products being offered in nearly 400 stores throughout Southern California.
Silver Mesa circa 2014
Today, Silver Mesa’s family legacy lives on through our DIY terrarium kits offered with vibrant succulents, hearty haworthia, charming cacti and low maintenance tillandsia options with your ultimate satisfaction and enjoyment in mind. We look forward to you becoming part of our story!
About Us
Established in 1976, Silver Mesa specializes in offering high-quality succulent, cactus and tillandsia terrariums that add beauty, elegance and style to any environment. Our products include DIY terrarium kits offered with vibrant succulents, hearty haworthia, charming cacti and low-maintenance tillandsia options. Our kits are shipped with our proprietary organic soil blend and feature decorative finishing touches that include natural crushed rock, gravel, sand, or moss, for a professional, finished floral appearance. Instructions for assembly and care of our products are included to ensure your ultimate satisfaction and enjoyment.
We also offer a wide range of beautiful, low-maintenance plant varieties to provide you with the perfect “slice of earth” that not only enhances your space but also sparks joy and creativity. Add one of our stylish pots or planters for a unique touch of style and distinctiveness to your plant order. We are here to help – contact us today!
Vision Statement
Silver Mesa exists to accentuate the natural beauty of plants while adhering to family traditions of creativity, integrity and excellence.
Mission Statement
Silver Mesa is enthusiastically dedicated to the design and creation of unique, high-quality succulent, cactus and tillandsia-themed products that add beauty, elegance and style to any environment.
Core Values
Service
We are a creative, service-oriented provider of unique, high-quality products and we conscientiously strive to make them to our customers’ ultimate satisfaction. Our success is determined by their satisfaction.
Integrity
We are focused and steadfast in our commitment to excellence in everything we do, which is evidenced in the positive attitudes of our team members and in the superb quality of the products we produce.
Family
We believe that family is the cornerstone of our communities and we consider everyone involved with us to be members of our family. As such, we work tirelessly each and every day to ensure that everyone in our family is treated with dignity, respect and kindness. We also seek to inject a little humor into our daily activities to help foster an easy-going, fun-loving environment.
Trust
We earn trust by creating and maintaining transparency, keeping our commitments, delivering results, continually improving, practicing accountability, extending trust, and being loyal to the customers and communities we serve.
