Frequently Asked Questions

  • Pollinators are bats, bees, butterflies, birds, moths, beetles, flies, wasps, mosquitoes, wind, and water. Plants would not produce fruit and rebloom without pollination which would greatly reduce our food supply

  • Lady bugs, praying mantis, beetles, eawigs, flies, lacewings, mites, spiders, thrips true bugs, wasps. You cannot have flowers and fruits without these critters unless you hand-pollinate the plants. Most will not hurt you unless you deliberately get in their way.

    Learn more here:
    http://www.caes.uga.du/departments/ent/lpm/beneficials/beneficials.html

  • Low maintenance:  Once established, native plants generally require little maintenance.

    Beauty: Many native plants offer beautiful showy flowers, produce abundant colorful fruits and seeds, and brilliant seasonal changes in colors from the pale, thin greens of early spring, to the vibrant yellows and reds of autumn. 

    Healthy Places for People: Lawns and the ubiquitous bark-mulched landscapes are notorious for requiring profuse amounts of artificial fertilizers and synthetic chemical pesticides and herbicides. The traditional suburban lawn, on average, has 10x more chemical pesticides per acre than farmland. By choosing native plants for your landscaping, you are not only helping wildlife, but you are creating a healthier place for yourself, your family, and your community.

    Helping the Climate: Landscaping with native plants can combat climate change. In addition to the reduced noise and carbon pollution from lawn mower exhaust, many native plants, especially long-living trees like oaks and maples, are effective at storing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. 

    Conserving Water: Because native plants are adapted to local environmental conditions, they require far less water, saving time, money, and perhaps the most valuable natural resource, water.

    Wildlife: Native plants provide nectar for pollinators including hummingbirds, native bees, butterflies, moths, and bats. They provide protective shelter for many birds and mammals. The native nuts, seeds, and fruits produced by these plants offer essential foods for all forms of wildlife.

    Learn more here:
    https://www.audubon.org/content/why-native-plants-matter

    HNP - Homegrown National Park - Regenerate Biodiversity

  • It varies somewhat, but I specialize in natives for pollinators, especially the ones box stores do not regularly carry.  I grow from seeds and buy some plugs and sticks, so my inventory depends on what grew or came in or sold out. I can only order what is available at the time. I do carry some nativars and a few nonnatives that I particularly like.

  • By definition, perennials live three or more years. Many are deciduous and appear to die back in winter and reappear in spring. Some perennials are tender and come back only if the weather was kind to them.  Biennials live for two years, generally flowering the second year.  Annuals usually live only one year, BUT many plants reseed themselves, so it looks like they come back.

    Perennials can include trees, shrubs, forbs, herbs, ground covers, and vines. Some are short-lived which translates into 3 to 5 or more years. Others are long-lived which includes some that live 25 to 50 or more years. The only charts I have sheen which show the life expectancy of perennials are a page from Iowa University https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/article/2006/2-22/perennials.html and a book by Neil Diboll which is available from Prairie Nursery .

    Spring ephemerals bloom early in spring and may die back when the weather gets warmer..