Native Plant Nursery: Bona Terra Updates
- Nuts for Natives
- Jul 2
- 3 min read
The new location in Indian Head, MD is coming along!
Bona Terra is the stuff of native plant legends. Giving away a million seedlings? Yes, that puts you in the legends category. Bona Terra is about 15,000 seedlings away from reaching the 1 million mark!
Bona Terra is the native plant nursery founded by Jeremy Tidd, Bona Terra sells many local eco-type native plants (identified as LE on the inventory). They offer an array of perennials, shrubs and some trees, all in a variety of sizes including plugs. The nursery continues to evolve. From its original location at the back of a Washington D.C. row home to space on a farm in Anne Arundel County, the nursery now looks to be in its forever home.
Bona Terra moved to Indian Head, Maryland, about an hour's drive south from downtown D.C. In the short time he has owned the property, Jeremy has doggedly removed many invasives and gotten the poison ivy under control, all while setting up the nursery and creating new gardens from overgrown ground. He is working to restore a shaded woodland and learning his new meadow. It's sure to be a native plant festival!
Moving a Nursery
I don't think I realized how much would be involved in moving an operational nursery from one location to another until I caught up with Jeremy. There was the enormous task of learning and preparing the new site, the physical move of thousands of plants, obtaining proper zoning, and establishing a small business in a new location to name a few of the to dos. This is an adjustment for staffing and volunteers, for the plants and for customers. Jeremy gives great credit to his family for making the move possible. His Dad enthusiastically takes on projects like fixing carburetors and his Mom is learning to pot up seedlings. A team effort indeed and we all are the beneficiaries.
Buying Plants from Bona Terra
Importantly, while Bona Terra goes through the work to set up the new nursery, their wonderful array of native plants are available for purchase. For the remainder of the summer you can order plants and schedule for a pick up in Washington D.C. or at the new location.
There are a bunch of great reasons to get your plants from Bona Terra. The local eco-type plants are sold at the best prices around. Bona Terra carries plants you can't find elsewhere and Jeremy only sells healthy, robust plants in a range of sizes including many plug size plants. And, best of all, you will be supporting a local small business through a big transition!
Check the inventory here, note the species name, size and quantity you would like and place your order by completing the order form.
The schedule for pick-ups in Washington DC:
July 23rd: DC Pick-up
August 27th: Resume weekly DC pick-ups
The schedule for pick-ups in Indian Head at the new nursery between 9am and 5pm:
July 5th-6th
July 12th-13th
July 19th-20th
August 30th-31st
If these scheduled pick-ups don't work for you, you can e-mail your order in and set up a mutually available time for your pick-up with Jeremy.
Volunteering at Bona Terra
A big part of Bona Terra's success has been the enormous help provided by volunteers. Getting this going in the new location is yet another transition. There are many reasons to volunteer but one of the best is probably the chance to talk with Jeremy, who has a vast knowledge base about native plants, restoration and growing from seed, to name just a few topics. To check out volunteering, go here. I plan to get out there a couple of days myself!
Tips for Planting in the Heat of Summer:
For sure, the best times to plant are spring and fall. You can, though, successfully plant new plants during the summer if you are able to ensure a thorough weekly watering.
plant in the evening so the plant can settle in overnight during the cooler part of the day
deeply water when you plant
deeply water once weekly, even if it has rained
use water from a rain barrel or cistern if available
Stay cool out there and ... as always,
Happy Gardening.
That's quite the conviction—to give away a million seedlings! And their name couldn’t be more fitting. I love stories about independent nurseries—their spirit always shines through, and sometimes it’s even contagious.
Very exciting. If I lived closer, I would definitely shop there. Great tips for planting in the heat of summer!
Beth at plantpostings.com
Jeremy is also a wonderful person and he supports native and invasive plant legislation! I too wish I lived closer to his nursery.
Wish I lived closer! Many tempting options here. So encouraging to see more vendors carrying natives, to say nothing of local ecotypes.
Another technique I use when planting in hot sunny weather is to upend a large pot or cardboard box - anything to provide temporary shade - over the plant and leave for a few days until the plant settles in. A rock on top keeps it in place
Some of the strongest most flourishing plants in my garden are from Bona Terra! Especially my elderberry! I was also a bearer of some free seedling in the fall a couple years ago and didn’t get them in the ground before the winter 😣Nearly all survived and I planted them the following March, including seed box and goldenrod which are doing so well right now!