Native plant nursery updates!
Your local native nurseries are stocking, growing and getting ready for spring and a number have been open all winter! If you want an easy shopping experience, reliable advice to increase your chances of success and enhance your garden, these are the places to go. These local businesses specialize in locally grown native plants (a rarity), are surviving in a very competitive industry, all while providing an environmentally important service.
A number of our local nurseries have shifted their business models a bit over the past several years. Some with regular retail hours moved to on-line ordering and scheduled pick-ups. Others will deliver. Others have limited early spring ordering for later in spring pickup. Please call to check before heading out to a nursery if you have any questions about how the nursery works!
Nurseries To Visit
Stevensville MD (Queen Annes County)
A Little Farm & Nursery, an independently owned full service garden center, has a good selection of native ground covers, grasses, perennials, shrubs and small trees. The team gardens with native plants. Open year round but a good idea to call ahead to find out about native plant inventories. Looking for kid friendly activities? You have found your place! You can read more here.
Bowie, Maryland (Prince Georges - Anne Arundel County line)
Ecoasis is a small nursery about 5 minutes from Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville. They may be small but they have a good selection of native shrubs and trees at competitive prices at their sunny road side location including larger sumac, serviceberry, and river birches. In past years, inventories were more robust in late spring. If you are looking for something specific, it is advisable to call ahead. They also carry many organic products.
Baltimore City
Herring Run Nursery in Baltimore is a treasure trove of quality native plant straight species and cultivars. You will find hundreds of perennials, shrubs and some young trees laid out in tidy rows in a sunny field behind a municipal golf course. Days and hours vary by month You can also place on-line orders for pick-up. On-line orders placed now will be available for pick-up on March 14th. Hours information is here. The Nursery reopens on March 14th!
Pylesville, Maryland (Harford County)
The Kollar family has been growing and selling native plants for about 30 years and it shows. They sell perennials, shrubs and trees as well as a very curated selection of ornamental shrubs and trees. Kollar sells straight species and hybrids and can explain the virtues of each choice. Once you see the unassuming sign at the side of the driveway, turn in and enjoy! You can read more here.
Ellicott City, Maryland (Howard County)
Lauren's Garden Service offers design and installation as well as their retail nursery. The nursery offers straight species and cultivars of native perennials, shrubs and trees. Plants are organized by size and light conditions. The nursery maintains an on-line inventory of plants. They also usually have a great assortment of high quality topiary forms and also offer a retail store with lots of botanical fare. You can read more here. Reopens in April!
(Queen Anne's County, MD)
This full service, year round garden center specializes in native plants and grows some their own plant stock for sale. They offer a strong selection of native plants in all sizes from plugs to mature trees and maintain an on-line inventory of plants. Their list of native plants native to the Eastern Shore (and grown by the nursery) is super useful. You can also place on-line orders for pick-up. They also sell plugs. The Spring Open House will be held Saturday, March 23rd!
Hamilton, VA
This nursery in Loudoun County is a treasure of hard to find and popular natives set amid a sylvan setting. The nursery sells quart and gallon sized plants and some larger shrubs and trees. They have a great selection of water loving perennials too. The inventory and current sale items are available on the website. They also welcome special orders for larger numbers of plants. Opens for the season on April 2nd!
Bethesda, MD (Montgomery County)
This wonderful backyard nursery offers local ecotype plants. You can get an idea of the plants available by looking at last season's inventory and reading more here. Opens for the season in April. Please check website for exact date.
Order & Pick-up Nurseries
Ridgely, MD (Caroline County)
Adkins hosts one of the longest running spring native plant sales in Maryland and it is open for ordering! You can place orders here through March 28th. Plants will be available for pick-up the last week of April. While there, you can walk the wooded trails and meadow paths to see oodles of native plants in their natural habitat.
Washington D.C. and Friendship, MD (Anne Arundel County)
Bona Terra Nursery grows and sells local eco-type plants only. The nursery is also home to the amazing million seedling give away and so much more. You can find the details for ordering here. Order on-line and pick up in Washington D.C., Friendship, MD or schedule delivery. Read more about Bona Terra here and here. Open now and year round!
Hollywood, MD (St. Mary's County)
This small seasonal plant stand is a wonderful source for native plant plugs and they are offering shrubs and trees too. Orders are now being taken for pick-up on opening day, April 19th. Order for shrubs and trees must be placed by Tuesday, March 19th. Read more about Butterfly Alley https://www.nutsfornatives.com/post/native-plant-nurseries-butterfly-alley here. Opens April 19th!
Upper Marlboro MD (Prince Georges County)
This volunteer run nursery uses the grounds at the historic Mt. Airy Mansion to grow Chesapeake ecotype plants. They grow over 100 different plants and offer quart size perennials, small shrubs and saplings. Their first open day is Saturday, April 6th.
Springfield, VA
This volunteer run nursery stocks only local ecotype plants and grows all of their plants. They sell plugs, quarts and gallon sized plants and a current inventory is available on their website. You can visit the nursery during weekend hours or order on-line for pick-up. Earth Sangha opens for the season on Sunday, March 17th.
St. Michaels, MD (Talbot County)
Environmental Concern collects their own seed and grows their own plants and has been doing so for a very long time - since 1972! If you are looking for wetland plants, you have found your place. Residential gardeners may place orders for wetland plants and more during the growing season by checking their inventory availability (updated monthly) and placing an order through e-mail or by phone. Customers pick up orders at the campus in St. Michaels, MD.
Alexandria, Virginia
Nature by Design grows their own plants and sell quite a range of straight species perennials including those that are hard to find. They also sell very young shrubs and trees. Like the other nurseries listed here, the people who work there are very helpful and extremely knowledgeable. Their 2023 plant list is here to give you an idea and their 2024 plant list is expected shortly. Nature by Design offers free delivery to all Alexandria mailing addresses and all Northern Virginia addresses inside the beltway.
On-Line Mail Order Nurseries
Middle River MD
Chevy Chase, MD
This relatively new nursery offers planting kits with templates, flats of perennials and plants. Perennial flats ship year round and other plants will begin to ship on April 15th.
Washington D.C.
Izel Plants sources native plants from several mid-Atlantic nurseries and has an excellent website that will indicate size (ranges from trays of plugs to quarts to loose bulbs and bare root plants) and shipment date to your zip code.
Cobbs Creek, VA
This is a longtime wholesale native plant nursery that will ship to residential customers with an order of $150 or more. They offer plug trays, bare root plants and live stakes.
Richmond, VA
This nursery sells over 400 native and native cultivar perennials. Plants are shipped with minimal packaging and plants are high quality and robust in size. Plants are grown by growers in central Virginia. They are accepting orders for shipping now.
It's never too early to plan an outing or place an order with one of these fantastic local native plant nurseries!
