By Jim McCausland, Sunset senior garden writer

There’s a beguiling look, sound, and scent to feed store-nursery combinations that I just love, especially this time of year. As soon as you walk through the front door you’re in a different world, surrounded by indoor plants, bins full of bulk soil amendment, stock tanks full of newly hatched chicks, seed racks, and a chalk board announcing specials of the day and whatever message the owner happens to have for loyal customers.

Pistils Nursery in Portland, Ore., is such a place. Just northeast of the intersection of I-5 and I-405, it’s on a narrow lot dominated by a lovely old two-story building painted green. The store has all the charms mentioned above (including the chicks), plus terrariums and more conventional containers, most already planted.

Slip out the back door, and a few curious chickens will take time out from bug patrol to welcome you to the nursery proper. It’s neat as a pin and loaded with things that should probably be in your garden. Start with the sawdust-filled pots full of bare-root strawberries and cane berries, and move on to the red-flowering currants and Clematis armandii, which is at is fragrant, flowery best this week. Beyond them a small universe of edibles and ornamentals awaits you.

About 20 percent of Pistils’ nursery stock is grown within a mile, and most of the rest is from the Willamette Valley—a smart take on the fresh-local approach that started with restaurants and makes excellent sense for nearly everything else we buy. Pistils can even hook you up with a local carpenter for a custom fence or gate.

This nursery is worth a stop for anybody going through Portland on I-5, but if you live nearby, put this on your short list of neighborhood treasures.

Info: Pistils Nursery, 3811 N. Mississippi Avenue, Portland; 503 288-4889.