American Native Nursery | A Native Plant Nursery

OUR MISSION

American Native Nursery evolved out of a personal passion, supported by a growing public interest in preserving native plants and restoring them to our parks, gardens, and woodlands.

We are dedicated exclusively to the propagation, promotion, and distribution of perennial wildflowers, grasses, groundcovers, shrubs, and trees native to the United States. We have been propagating native pachysandra for over 30 years and now offer a full range of native plants, mostly from local seed sources.

We have a special focus on the propagation of rare, high-value plants from local Delaware Valley ecoregions, especially the Northern Piedmont ecoregion. All of our local genome plants are labeled with provenance information.

WHY NATIVE

The reasons are many, and since you are reading this you might have thought of a few already.  We can start here by listing some of the most obvious.  For further reading please see our pages with Testimonials and Links and References.

Environmental sustainability - natives are much "greener" than imported plants as they require little irrigation and no fertilization. Since most landscape-suitable natives are perennials, their use saves you time and money.

Biodiversity - it is well documented how native plants support biodiversity through a number of natural mechanisms.  They provide food and shelter to wildlife as an integral part of well-established and healthy ecosystems.

Economic considerations - the lower cost of growing and maintaining natural plantings is the most immediate benefit you will see.  It is closely related to all the other reasons we've listed: no need for expensive fertilizers and other chemicals used in traditional gardening and lawn maintenance, no irrigation - no racking up your water bill in the summer, no costly replacement of exotic plants that didn't make it through a harsh winter or a dry summer... the list goes on.

The aesthetic of natural beauty - subtler color palettes, delicate shapes, endless diversity, refreshing variability in place of monotony and uniformity. It looks and feels like "coming home".  It provides a welcome break from the "off-the-shelf" look spreading through our neighborhoods.  It resonates with the values of our time...