Delhi is a quiet corner of the west side. It is mostly houses, a few parks, a university on the hill and a road network that locals know and everyone else has to look up. It is not where you would expect to find an acre of glass full of plants.
West Hills Greenhouses has been on Feist Drive since 1929. The street is named for the family, because the greenhouse was built on their farm. Nearly a century later the same family still grows there, and the operation supplies landscapers, garden centers, parks, golf courses and municipalities across the region.
It is also open to homeowners, which is the part most west siders do not know. This guide covers who they are, what they grow, how to visit, and how to think about planting around a patio or a deck once you get there.
A Family Greenhouse With a Street Named After It
In 1929, brothers Richard, Florian and Oscar Feist put up the first small greenhouse on this site, on land that was part of their father’s farm. The early crops were cut flowers: chrysanthemum, aster, sweet pea, carnation and snapdragon.
The business passed down the way family businesses do, one retirement at a time. Oscar left the partnership in 1962. When Richard retired in 1966, Roger Feist bought his share and became a partner with his father Florian. Roger bought the remaining share when Florian retired in 1970.
For years after that, carnations were the main crop. Then foreign competition made carnations impossible to grow profitably, and in 1978 the company made a decision that saved it. It restructured completely into a propagation and spring annuals business, starting with geraniums, ivy geraniums, poinsettias and New Guinea impatiens.
That turn is why the place still exists. Plenty of Ohio greenhouses did not make it out of that decade. Today Roger and Linda Feist grow annuals, perennials, ferns, herbs, tropicals, ground covers, bamboo, succulents, ornamental grasses and hundreds of plants meant for containers, including varieties that are genuinely hard to find locally.
| At a Glance | West Hills Greenhouses, Inc. |
| Founded | 1929, on what was then the Feist family farm |
| Run by | Roger and Linda Feist |
| What it is | A working greenhouse and grower, not a garden center. Retail sales happen through their Grower’s Market. |
| Size | About an acre of greenhouses plus outside growing areas |
| Address | 701 Feist Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45238 |
| Phone | (513) 922-2378 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Closed Sunday. |
| Website | westhillsgreenhouses.com |
Location, Directions and Access
West Hills Greenhouses, Inc. is at 701 Feist Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45238, in Delhi Township. The greenhouse can be reached at (513) 922-2378.
Coming from Rapid Run Park
Rapid Run Park sits on Rapid Run Pike on the west side. From the park, follow Rapid Run Pike west to where it meets Rapid Run Road, then continue west on Rapid Run Road into Delhi Township. Feist Drive runs south off Rapid Run Road, and the greenhouse is on Feist Drive.
Feist Drive is short and residential and does not look like the entrance to an acre of greenhouses, which is the single most common reason first-time visitors think they have the wrong address. They have not. Keep going.
Parking and Access
- There is parking on site.
- This is a working greenhouse rather than a retail store, so expect gravel, hoses, damp concrete and wet floors. Wear shoes you do not mind soaking.
- Plants can be picked up at the greenhouse, or delivery can be arranged.
- Garden clubs, demonstrations and large group visits are welcomed, so a club outing is worth calling about rather than just turning up.
Hours
The greenhouse is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It is closed on Sunday. That Saturday window is short, so a weekend visit needs to be an early one.
This is a growing operation rather than a store, so what is on the benches changes hard with the season. If you are driving any distance for something specific, the plant list on their site is the starting point and a phone call is the confirmation.
Reach the greenhouse at (513) 922-2378 to ask what is looking good the week you want to come.
What Grows Under an Acre of Glass
Their own plant list runs to annuals, perennials, ferns, herbs, tropicals, ground covers, bamboo, succulents, ornamental grasses and the container plants they call components. In the fall the mix turns to pansies, ornamental cabbage and kale, Carex grasses, peppers and frost tolerant components for planters and beds.
Two things about the operation are worth understanding before you visit.
- They grow rather than resell. Custom growing is available on a per year basis, which means a landscaper or a homeowner planning something specific can have material grown to order rather than hoping it turns up.
- They are not a garden center. They say so themselves. Retail happens through their Grower’s Market, selling direct from the greenhouse. The selection is a grower’s selection, which is why the unusual varieties are there and why it does not look like a store.
They also sell to landscapers, garden centers, private estates, parks, golf courses, country clubs and municipalities, and they will work alongside a landscape designer or help a homeowner plan a space directly. If you have ever admired the planting at a west side park or country club, there is a fair chance it started on a bench in Delhi.
Screening and Softening the Edge of a Patio
Most people build the hardscape first and think about plants afterward. That order is backwards, and it is the reason so many new patios feel exposed for the first two or three years. Plants take time. The hardscape does not.
The useful way to think about it is in bands measured out from the paver edge. Right at the edge you want shallow roots, so ground covers, sedum and creeping herbs. The middle band is where privacy actually happens, because it screens people who are sitting down: ornamental grasses, perennials, hydrangea, ferns. The back band is for full screening with bamboo, tall grasses and larger shrubs, kept well back so woody roots stay away from the patio base.
One caution worth carrying into the greenhouse with you. Bamboo is a fantastic screen and a genuine problem if you buy the wrong kind. Running types spread and need a physical barrier. Clumping types stay where you put them. Ask which one you are holding before it goes in the car.
If the patio is not built yet, the planting plan should shape the layout rather than fill in around it. It is worth looking at how a backyard breaks into zones people actually use and at the built-in extras that turn a slab into a room before anything gets poured, because built-in planters and seat walls are much cheaper to include than to add.
Small yards are where this matters most, since a screen that is too deep eats the space it was meant to protect. There are good tricks for making a compact space feel bigger than it is, and most of them involve planting up rather than out.
The trade off nobody mentions at the greenhouse is debris. Anything you plant close to stone will drop leaves, petals or berries on it, and some of that stains. It is not a reason to avoid planting, but it is a reason to know what it takes to keep a stone surface looking right before you put a berry-dropping shrub next to light colored pavers.
Platinum Deck and Patio builds paver patios, retaining walls and decks across the west side and the wider Cincinnati metro, and plenty of those projects get planned with the planting in mind from the start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a homeowner buy here, or is it wholesale only?
Homeowners can buy. They sell wholesale and retail, with retail running through what they call their Grower’s Market, selling direct from the greenhouse.
Is it a garden center?
No, and they say so plainly. It is a working greenhouse. That is a feature rather than a drawback, because the selection is a grower’s selection, but it does mean the experience is different from walking a retail aisle.
Can they grow something specific for a project?
Yes. Custom growing is offered on a per year basis, and they describe growing and delivering to the needs of a landscape job or a private estate. That takes planning ahead rather than a same-week phone call.
Do they deliver?
Plants can be picked up at the greenhouse, or delivery can be arranged. Ask when you order.
What should I bring?
Measurements of the space, a note of which direction it faces, and an honest read on how much sun it gets. Those three things let anyone at a greenhouse steer you well. Photos help too.
The Bottom Line
West Hills Greenhouses is a survivor. It started as three brothers and a small greenhouse on their father’s farm, outlived the cut flower trade, reinvented itself in 1978 when carnations stopped paying, and is still growing on the same ground almost a century later. The street carries the family name because they were there first.
For a west side homeowner, the practical value is simple. There is an acre of unusual, locally grown plant material a few minutes from most of Delhi, and you can buy from it directly. Measure the space, call (513) 922-2378 to check what is open, and go look.
Take the long way through Delhi on the way home. Once you have spent an hour looking at what actually thrives here, the planting around every patio you pass starts to look like a set of decisions somebody made.