Over the past several years, Steve and Beth Cagan have turned their yard in Cleveland Heights into a lush landscape of native plants. Now people are asking them where to find such plants, so Steve developed this list of sources. It's a work in progress, and he'll issue updated versions as he gets more information. The list is based on an assumption that you know what plants you want and just need to find out where to get them. (You can help add to the list by emailing a description of your sources here.)
I’ve had a hard time finding many natives at local commercial nurseries, though there have been some exceptions. But basically you can’t rely on them, and they’re certainly not the first place to look. If you do go to a commercial nursery, be sure to bring a good guide book along.
Keep in mind that not all the merchants know which plants are natives. Recently, at the Coventry Street Fair, a vendor with a variety of annuals had a plant we didn’t know — a self-seeding annual, apparently attractive to hummingbirds, called cleome (Cleome hasslerana, also called C. spinosa), or spider flower. When I asked about it, the merchants said, “You know, it’s a native…” Well it’s a native, all right, in Argentina and Brazil, but not here.
For better ideas, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History puts out a sheet with a nice list of suggested native plants. Also, the Ohio State Extension service has a good multi-page document listing information about a good number of native plants — not exhaustive, but helpful.
Before you order any plants, why don’t you consider joining the area chapter of The Wild Ones, an organization devoted to encouraging native planting? Information is available from Barb Holtz at the Cleveland Metroparks (440-473-3370).
Where to buy
Places we’ve bought from and are happy with:
Holden Arboretum spring plant sale
9500 Sperry Rd.
Kirtland, OH 44094
Both Holden and some of their vendors have good plants. A little pricey, but good stock and a good place to seek advice and help.
Nature Center at Shaker Lakes spring plant sale and July native plants sale
2600 South Park Blvd.
Shaker Heights, OH 44120
These plants are expensive, but you’re supporting a very worthwhile organization and supporting the rescue of native plants from construction sites. And you’re reminding the nature center of their role in promoting the planting of natives in local gardens.
Ohio Prairie Nursery
Hiram, OH
330-569-3380
Although their catalog emphasizes seeds rather than plants and their focus is large areas, we have been happy with purchases we made from them at the Holden sale. They have an open house in August.
Environmental Concern Inc.
St. Michaels, MD
410-745-9620
We recently found this great source for native aquatic, bog, margin, and wet meadow plants. Our first order arrived on schedule; the plants were in great shape. Prices are very reasonable. Check out their web site, then call them if you’re interested in ordering plants.
William Tricker, Inc.
7125 Tanglewood Dr.
Independence, OH 44131
800-524-3492
They have a good selection of native aquatic and bog plants, as well as items for ponds. They also have good prices. But they are not exclusively native, so make sure you ask for what you really want. Their place in Independence is worth a visit. It’s been around for a long time and has what is, for me, a very worn and comfortable quality like a favorite old sweater.
Pond Forum
Have you tried to find native water lilies? It’s really hard. I had about given up when I sent an e-mail to this place (which did not list any natives in their web site) asking if they could get N. odorata. They replied the same day saying they could. Their prices are better than most for these, and in a few days I had my native water lilies for our pond.
Ion Exchange
Harpers Ferry, IA
We’ve bought plants from them several times, mostly woodland and prairie flowers. They are easy to work with, send the plants right away, and send plants that arrive in good condition and grow well. Once you buy something from them, you’re on their list and they send notices of 25% off spring and fall sales.
Toadshade Wildflower Farm
Frenchtown, NJ
It’s been a while since we’ve bought anything from them, but they have a really good catalog, and we were very happy with our purchases.
Shooting Star Nursery
Frankfort, KY
We’ve bought a bunch of native shrubs from them — viburnums, dogwoods, and others — and have had good success with them.
Other places to explore
Envirotech Consultants, Inc.
Somerset, OH
We haven’t bought from them (yet), but they have a terrific catalog of Ohio natives.
The Milkweed Farm
Milkweeds are wonderful plants — attractive and hardy, and very good for attracting butterflies to the garden. This site has an amazing variety of milkweed seeds available. We now have the three most common around here — common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), swamp milkweed (A. incarnata), and butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) — well established in our garden. But we didn’t have much luck with seeds. We dug up some of the former species from a site where they were unwanted, and got plants of the latter two from some of the suppliers listed above.
The Perennial Patch
Newbury, OH
440-564-7565
These folks also sold at a Holden sale. They don’t specialize in natives, but they had some good ones on sale.
Earthscapes, Inc.
Loveland, OH
513-683-0144
They have an intriguing website, but I can’t tell if they do mail-order sales.
Prairie Nursery, Inc.
Westfield, WI
800-476-9453
Their website also looks very promising, and they clearly do mail-order sales.
Gardens of the Blue Ridge, Inc.
Pineola, NC
828-733-2417
Elk Mountain Nursery
Asheville, NC
They have useful lists of plants for special situations or particular needs, and a nice list of trees and shrubs.
Out Back Nursery
Hastings, MN
651-438-2771
And, of course, there are many more. Google searches for native plants, or for the particular plant you’re looking for, produce a lot of possibilities.
