Buy Native Plants

Q: How do I use the plant list?

A: Our Native Plant List is meant to be an aid in compiling your order. Listed below are notes that may help in using it.

• The Excel version is sortable so you can find the information you want. If, for example, you are looking only for shrubs, sort by category. If you are looking for plugs, sort by size.
• Categories included are: Ferns, Grasses, Shrubs, Sub-shrubs, Trees and Wildflowers.
• Plant sizes are usually stated by pot volume, such as 1 or 2 gallon. Tru Gal is a bit larger than 1 gallon. Plant height is included where known. Each container includes a single plant. Container seedlings are shrub and tree seedlings/saplings in approximately 3” wide x 9” tall pots. Plugs are smaller than 1 qt. seedlings grown in seed trays filled with potting soil. They are sold individually.
• Provenance shows seed source information for species grown from seed. An unknown listing indicates that either the seed source is undetermined or plants were not grown from seed. Some species are listed more than once as we offer seed grown and non-seed grown plants in some cases.
• Availability dates show approximately when any given species will be available for sale at both locations. We update throughout the season, though crop delay and rate of sale are factors that can make this feature an approximation.

Q: How do I order plants?

A: Our plant list is meant to be an aid in compiling your order. While it is not required when sending your order, it is helpful to us. To place an order, download or refer to our 2023 Native Plant Price List from the Buy Native Plants webpage. Enter quantities in the price list and your information and notes in the Customer Information Form and email your order to gardennatives@NativePlantTrust.org. Please include:

• contact information – your name, email and phone
• where you'll be picking up your plants - at Garden in the Woods or Nasami Farm
• membership info - if you are a current Native Plant Trust member, would like to become a member, or renew your membership.

We will email you a finalized quote that includes instructions for secure online payment.

Q: How will I get my plants?

A: When your plant order is ready we will email to schedule a pickup appointment. Please make note of availability dates as you are compiling your order. We try to have your order complete at one time, but widely varying availability dates can necessitate more than one pickup.

Q: I'm new at gardening with native plants. Where can I get some advice about which plants will work best in my yard?

A: We have some great tools for you!

Our Garden Plant Finder is a helpful tool you can use to develop lists of plant lists that will thrive in your garden’s conditions.

For color-illustrated handbooks with full descriptions of stunning native garden plants, you can buy either or both of our books, The Northeast Native Plant Primer: 235 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden or Native Plants for New England Gardens online on the Garden books by our Experts page.

Once we open for the season we look forward to helping you in person. Until then, we can help you with preorders and answering questions by email and on the phone. Since we are working remotely much of this time, it is best to email gardennatives@NativePlantTrust.org with questions. If you would like us to phone you, please let us know best times to reach you.

Q: I'm a landscape designer looking for a price quote. Who should I talk to?

A: Contact us, letting us know what you have in mind, and we'll get you a quote: gardennatives@NativePlantTrust.org; 508-271-7920 (our direct line for plant shopping).

Q: Why do I see cultivars in your plant list?

A: We try to find cultivars that are closest to the species or have some other important attribute, such as fertile flowers. Some cultivars are actually species plants, but they carry a cultivar name from the grower for marketing purposes.

Q: Can I order a gift card over the phone?

A: Yes. We'll mail it to you or the recipient. To order, call the Garden Shop at Garden in the Woods: 774-301-8465. Gift cards may be redeemed for merchandise and plants at Garden in the Woods and Nasami Farm.

Kit Overview

Native Plant Trust offers Native Plant Pollinator Kits for advance ordering, tailored for three types of growing conditions:

• Kit 1: Full sun, average to dry soil; well suited to open sites with drier conditions - SOLD OUT
• Kit 2: Part sun, moist to dry soil; adaptable to a wide range of conditions including woodlands - SOLD OUT
• Kit 3: Full to part sun, moist to occasionally wet soil; ideal for pond shores and other damp sites

Each kit consists of 50 plug-sized plants (see table below) selected to produce both a cascade of bloom throughout the season and habitat for particular pollinators at all stages of their life cycles. Contained in 5-inch deep plug cells, these plants should mature to fill a space approximately 75 square feet or larger, depending on what is growing there already and the desired planting density.

• Packaged in a single tray, a kit contains 50 wildflowers (7 species) for starting a well-balanced garden that flowers from spring into fall.
• Our plants are started from seed from our region. Nasami Farm staff and volunteers sustainably collect seed in the wild from large, robust populations to ensure high genetic diversity.
• Our plug kits deliver faster results than gardens started from seed, because you start with well-developed plants with deep, healthy root systems that establish quickly.
• We feed our plants with organic fertilizer and use biological controls rather than chemicals as our first line of defense against pests. We use no systemic pesticides, such as neonicotinoids.
• Price: Each kit packs super value at $195. Native Plant Trust members save 10 percent!
• Order now for pick-up starting in June! Ordering instructions follow the plant-list tables.

What's in Our Kits?

Choose kit 1, 2, or 3, according to your growing conditions. Download this table to see the quantities and species planned for each kit. Each plant species designated as a HOST supports five or more native lepidoptera (butterfly or moth) species during their larval stage. Note: Kit contents may vary slightly from what appears in the following table.

Order Now for Pick-up in Early Summer!

Quantities are limited. Place your order as early as possible for pick-up starting in mid-June:

• Call 508-271-7920 or email gardennatives@NativePlantTrust.org.
• Please specify kit type, quantity and pickup location: Garden in the Woods (Framingham, MA) or Nasami Farm (Whately, MA)
• Full payment is due when you order. Please do not send credit card information in your email. We will send you a quote that is securely payable online.

For Best Results

Please follow our instructions about how to prepare the site and care for the plants as they get established in the ground. After you place an order, we will send you instructions on how to prepare the soil, so it will be ready planting when you receive your kits.

Pollinators' Feast

From bee magnets like Zizia aurea to the hummingbird moth’s preferred Monarda fistulosa, these plants are sure to have your garden buzzing! Want to devote a large area to pollinator plants? Check out our Pollinator Kits (see above, this page).

Anticipated species
Amelanchier canadensis (serviceberry)
Aquilegia canadensis (Canada columbine)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed)
Zizia aurea (golden Alexanders)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot)
Lonicera sempervirens (trumpet honeysuckle)
Eutrochium maculatum (Joe Pye weed)
Liatris spicata (spike blazing star)

Pick-up date: On or after June 15

Member price: $117/nonmembers: $130

Spring Ephemerals Collection

Focused on New England’s fabulous array of spring ephemerals, this collection contains species that are among the first to bloom in early spring and usually go dormant by midsummer, as the rest of the garden comes alive.

Anticipated species
Mertensia virginica (Virginia bluebells)
Stylophorum diphyllum (New England celandine)
Claytonia virginica (eastern spring beauty)
Erythronium americanum (trout-lily)
Sanguinaria canadensis ‘Multiplex’ (double-flowering blood-root)
Sanguinaria canadensis (blood-root)
Dicentra canadensis (squirrel-corn)
Thalictrum thalictroides (anemone meadow-rue)

Pick-up date: On or after April 23

Member price: $85.50/nonmembers: $95

Moisture-loving Collection

Does your garden have a wet spot where the grass won’t grow and the mower gets stuck? The plants in this collection will beautifully fill wet areas of your garden.

Anticipated species
Caltha palustris (marsh marigold)
Hibiscus moscheutos (swamp rose-mallow)
Iris versicolor (blue iris)
Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich or fiddlehead fern)
Sanguisorba canadensis (Canada burnet)
Trollius laxus (American globe-flower)
Vaccinium macrocarpon (highbush-cranberry)
Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver’s-root)

Pick-up date: On or after June 15

Member price: $108/nonmembers: $120

Summer Blaze Collection

When the spring ephemerals have passed, the plants in this collection take the spotlight, ensuring that your garden looks top-notch during backyard barbeque season. These plants will be in or approaching full bloom June through September.

Anticipated species
Conoclinium coelestinium (blue mistflower)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed)
Chelone glabra (white turtlehead)
Liatris spicata (spike blazing star)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bee-balm, wild bergamot)
Heliopsis helianthoides (sunflower-everlasting)
Eurybia divaricata (white wood-aster)
Solidago odora (licorice goldenrod)

Pick-up date: On or after June 18

Member price: $108/nonmembers: $120

Roadside Collection

Tired of looking at that barren strip between the sidewalk and the road? How about filling it with natives? This collection includes some of the most drought-, salt-, and compaction-tolerant plants the native flora has to offer. From Asclepias to Pycnanthemum, these plants will make sure your roadside looks better than your neighbors'.

Anticipated species
Asclepias syriaca or A. tuberosa (milkweed)
Comptonia peregrina (sweet fern)
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry)
Ionactis linariifolia (flax-leaved stiff-aster)
Panicum virgatum (Switchgrass)
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (narrow leaf mountain mint)
Rudbeckia fulgida (black-eyed Susan)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)

Pick-up date: On or after June 18

Member price: $117/nonmembers: $130

Coastal Plantings Collection

This collection of salt-tolerant, pollinator-loving natives will fill the bill for those with houses on the Cape and elsewhere near the shore. Combines well with the Roadside Collection for a super group of plants that thrive in harsh, sandy conditions.

Anticipated species
Morella caroliniensis (small bayberry)
Clethra alnifolia (summersweet)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed )
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)
Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (New England aster, late bloom)
Aquilegia canadensis (columbine)
Allium cernuum (nodding onion)

Pick-up date: On or after June 15

Member price: $135/nonmembers: $150

Woodland Bloom Collection

Are you looking for plants that do well in shade or at woodland edges for color throughout the growing season? Here is a collection for you.

Anticipated species

Stylophorum diphyllum (celandine poppy - long blooming, spring to fall)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-pulpit - spring bloom, fall/winter fruit)
Phlox divaricata ‘Blue Moon’ (blue phlox - fragrant, periwinkle-blue spring-blooming phlox)
Actaea racemosa (black cohosh - midsummer 6 ft. spikes of white flowers)
Actaea rubifolia (Appalachian baneberry – late summer spikes of white flowers above maple-shaped leaves)
Symphyotrichum cordifolium (blue wood aster)
Ageratina altissima (white snakeroot)
Solidago flexicaulis (zig-zag goldenrod)

Pick-up date: On or after May 21

Member price: $108/nonmembers: $120

Understory Collection

Often, what’s underneath is as important as the standout. Whether a true ground cover or an important fill-in shrub, this collection is sure to add woodland interest.

Anticipated Species

Lindera benzoin (northern spicebush)
Carex pensylvanica (a sedge for dry shade)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern - evergreen)
Polygonatum biflorum or P. pubescens (smooth or hairy Solomon’s seal)
Mitella diphylla (bishop’s cap)
Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod)
Jeffersonia diphylla (twinleaf - spring-blooming groundcover)
Rhus aromatica ‘Gro Lo’ (low-growing fragrant sumac)

Pick-up date: On or after June 15

Member price: $117/nonmembers: $130

Jumping worms (a.k.a. snake worms, crazy worms) are now widespread and spreading aggressively throughout the Northeast. These invasive earthworms are noticeably larger than the established earthworms and thrash violently when disturbed. Their presence is also marked by piles of grapenut-sized castings (feces). Damage caused by jumping worms includes devouring leaf litter that regenerates soil and over-aerating the soil, causing nutrients to leach out, roots to loosen, and soil to erode. What Native Plant Trust is doing to prevent the spread of jumping worms:

• All wood chips and compost used at Garden in the Woods are produced on site.
• We use new plastic pots for most of the plants we sell. We clean and sanitize any reused pots.
• Nasami Farm nursery staff place all seedlings on raised benches or on landscape fabric inside the greenhouses.
• At both locations, our potting mix comes bagged, and we do not store it on the ground.
• We check plant deliveries from our wholesale growing partners on arrival, and staff regularly monitor the plant-sales area for signs of jumping worms. Our wholesale collaborators are taking similar measures.
• We display plants on raised platforms when possible.
• Throughout the season, plant-sales staff remove plants from pots to check soil and roots, and they inspect all pre-orders before customers pick up their plants.

What you can do

• Learn to identify jumping worms (resources below) and look for signs in your yard and garden (large castings, disappearing leaf litter, and loosely rooted plants). The best time to look for adult worms is late summer through early fall. The resource links below provide more information.
• Do a “mustard pour” to see if you have worms: Mix 1/3 cup dry mustard seed powder with 1 gallon of water and slowly pour into your soil. This agitates any worms present and forces them to the surface.
• If you find jumping worms, place them in a sealed plastic bag in the sun for 10 minutes, then dispose of the bag in the trash.
• Check the roots and soil of purchased plants before you plant. To be sure you are not bringing cocoons (dark, poppy-seed sized) into your garden, use a bucket of water to clean soil from plant roots and then dispose of that soil waste in a plastic bag.
• Clean your shoes before and after walking in the woods, parks, and public gardens.

For more information

UMass Extension: https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/jumpingcrazysnake-worms-amynthas-spp

Cornell Cooperative Extension:
http://ulster.cce.cornell.edu/environment/invasive-pests/jumping-worm
http://ccetompkins.org/resources/jumping-worm-fact-sheet

http://ccetompkins.org/resources/jumping-worm-fact-sheet

Entomology Research Laboratory at University of Vermont: https://www.uvm.edu/~entlab/Forest%20IPM/Worms/InvasiveWorms.html

UConn Agricultural Experiment Station: https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/CAES/DOCUMENTS/Publications/Fact_Sheets
/Entomology/Jumping-worms-in-Connecticut.pdf

Photo: © Kaitlin Sullivan, Audubon.org