Maryland Growers: Native Plants
- Nuts for Natives
- 27 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Maryland shines at major nursery trade show.
In January, Baltimore's Convention Center is filled with, yes, plants! The Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show is one of the horticulture industry's largest convenings. From ditch witches to hand trowels, mulches to ceramics and plugs to trees, the show is a mecca for nursery buyers, growers and landscapers on the east coast.
I was interested in learning more about the presence of native plants in this business world. I was so encouraged to learn of so many Maryland nurseries who are all in with native plants!
Cavano's Perennials
A question posed about favorite native perennials begat a lot of pondering by Riley and her colleague. Just so many to choose from. They finally settled on the big and blousy perennial cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum)! We talked about how walking amongst those plants in late summer was what it is all about.
Cavano's has been growing perennials and more in Kingsville, Maryland for over 50 years. Today, they grow 1700 types of plants at two locations including almost 200 natives or native cultivars. A wholesaler, their customers include arboretums, landscapers, garden centers and institutions. Cavano's perennials are often sold at independent garden centers throughout the Chesapeake region.
From time to time, Cavano's does open to the public - it's called 'Grower's Market.' You can learn more here.
Clear Ridge Nursery
Joe Barley, a trained forester, started his career with Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, a job he loved. Eventually, BGE, in need of trained foresters, recruited him away and he quickly moved from tree work to planning projects. It was when he was not able to source needed native trees for a BGE project he realized there is demand for supplies of native trees. He and his wife seized on the opportuntiy to make their dream of renovating a farm they had purchased a decade earlier a reality. Clear Ridge Nursery was born.
With help from a small group of investors eager to support such an endeavor, Joe started out with 18 species of trees on less than a handful of acres.. He and his family hand watered with a hose. Back then, there were 20,000 plants.
Today, Clear Ridge grows 70 species of trees, mostly native, and maintains an inventory of 150,000 plants. Clear Ridge, in Union Bridge, is a wholesale nursery. Customers include state and county governments, landscape contractors, garden centers and non-profits. Joe's enthusiasm for his work is contagious and Maryland is better off for it!
Delmarva Native Plants
The newest of the businesses featured here, Delmarva Native Plants, is already growing strong. A field wholesale operation in Hurlock on Maryland's Eastern Shore, this is primarily a wetlands nursery that grows plants in 1 gallon containers. They started with plugs but preferred the outdoors to greenhouses and larger containers allowed them to be outside more. Delmarva Native Plant customers include Lauren's Garden Service, Ecoasis and Herring Run Nursery to name a few. Delmarva is a regional supplier that uses local genotype plants. Delmarva Native Plants is all about restoration and conservation!
Raemelton Farm
Talking with Haisel Cruz about the 5' long roots of this 30 day year old radish led me to learn more about Raemelton Farm. When a tree farm features a tillage radish as the main part of its trade show display, you know something's up!
Raemelton Farm began just over 20 years ago on land south of Frederick that has been farmed for over 300 years. The farmland was once owned by Charles Carroll and more recently was a dairy farm. This is a very intentional operation with a focus on sustainability. After a year of property renovation, the balled and burlap operation began and a steady plan to expand the size and nature of. the operation followed. You can read more here. Today, Raemelton Farm specializes in balled and burlap native, fruit and nut trees and some ornamentals. Organically grown paw paws and dogwoods anyone? A small portion of the Raemelton Farm is certified as organic by the USDA. You can read more about that here.
The Raemelton Farm website is a breath of fresh air. Transparency seems to be part of the sustainability ethos and as I perused, each question that popped into my head was seemingly answered in the next paragraph. There is even a section on what to do if you want to purchase a tree as a retail customer. This is not the focus of their business but they tell you what your options are.
Haisel's enthusiasm for the tillage radish and its ability to reduce soil compaction sustainably extended to everything about Raemelton Farm and, learning more, it easy to see why!
The Perennial Farm
Katie Watson Shaltry's excitement over perennials mirrored that of the bee aloft over her head. An e-commerce specialist, Katie explained that while the Perennial Farm in Glen Arm has been growing native perennials for many, many years, the Queen Bee 'program' is a way to tell customers which plants are native and so far it is a success! And that Queen Bee actually has a name .... Polly Nator.
Whatever it takes to get native plants in the ground! In 2025, the Perennial Farm opened it's doors to retail customers and look for the same in 2026. You can check for updated information here. The Perennial Farm also has an on-line marketplace.
There are many more Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania growers I did not get to meet. While these businesses focus on wholesale trade, having so many dedicated to native plants means, as retail customers, we are much more likely to get locally grown native plants and have more opportunities to purchase local ecotype plants. Not only are these plants accustomed to conditions in our area, the ecological footprint of getting them from farm to store to home is smaller -- both very beneficial. Maryland is fortunate to have these growers supplying our favorite native plant nurseries, garden centers and non-profits!
Happy Gardening.
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