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Our story began on East 89th Street and Madison Avenue in 1959. My grandfather, Dimitri Gravanis, opened his florist shop – Dimitri Markatos Florists – shortly after he immigrated from Greece. Prior to opening his own florist shop, he worked briefly at Christatos & Koster and Fellan Florists.


In the late 60's he opened his first garden center. This shop was located on East 86th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. Dimitri constructed a small greenhouse and display garden on the rooftop of a building. He enjoyed many years of success as one of the only garden concerns in the Upper East Side.
After 20 years at this location and with the rents rising due to development,

he moved the business to a small store front on Second Avenue and 82nd Street. While there, he developed his garden design and installation business. He exhibited his award-winning work at the NY Flower Show.

Around 1987, Dimitri with the help of many friends leased space in East Harlem from the City of New York. It was a large tract of land (approximately a ¼ of an acre) by New York City standards. He constructed a large greenhouse and garden shop. He also carried the largest selection of nursery stock in NYC. We had come to find out that this location was the birthplace of Lou Gehrig. Dimitri loved this location and continued to run the business there until his death in 1996.

The business is now run by Dimitri's wife Calliope, his daughter Aspasia and his grandchildren Alexander and Dimitri. We recently sold the 2nd Avenue site and moved the operation to 2 locations. Our offices, design studio and showroom are at 143 East 103rd Street, between Lexington Avenue and Park Avenue. The garden center and carpentry shop in located at 2413 Third Avenue, The Bronx. It is conveniently located at the base of the 3rd Avenue Bridge and Bruckner Boulevard. This area is known for its antique dealers and close proximity to Manhattan.

We look forward to continuing our business and thank you all for your dedicated patronage.

Happy Spring!

-Dimitri Gatanas