Native Landscaping
In the most recent edition of our Compass magazine (page 20), we highlighted some of the benefits of native plants and offered tips on incorporating them into your landscape. Native plants are generally defined as those that existed in this region prior to European settlement. Landscapes filled with native plants support more butterflies, birds, and other wildlife than landscapes filled with non-native plants. The right selection of native plants can put on a colorful show throughout the growing season and produce seeds that feed wildlife in the fall and winter. If you are ready to start adding native plants to your landscape, you may be wondering, “where do I buy them?”
There may not be many places to purchase native plants in Elkhart County yet, but don’t be discouraged. We’ve gathered some helpful resources to get you started.
Native Plant Events
Several organizations in our region hold yearly native plant sales. Wild Ones of South Bend provides a helpful list of upcoming sales.
Mail Order
Prairie Nursery and Prairie Moon Nursery both offer a great selection of native plants by mail order. Both have excellent websites with a wealth of information about plants, site preparation and landscape design. Most of the plants they sell are native to Indiana, but with nurseries located in Wisconsin and Minnesota, they might provide some plants that are native there, but not here. Fortunately, these sites provide range maps and filters that allow you to easily select Indiana species.
Worth the Drive
Bernacchi’s Oak Valley Greenhouses in LaPorte County (see address below) is one of the few in Northern Indiana that offers retail space where you can shop for native plants. In South Bend, The Botany Shop was originally known for house plants, but has also had regular pop-up native plant sales, and will be expanding into a new space with more native plant options in the spring of 2025. Naturally Native Nursery in South Bend has 250 species of native plants, and offers landscape design, consulting, and installation services. They can ship plants, or you can call to make an appointment to pick them up at the nursery. Their website is full of native plant tips and resources.
For Larger Projects
Stantec Native Plant Nursery (formerly Cardno) is located in Walkerton, Indiana, in St. Joseph County. They are a wholesale nursery that typically works with landscape contractors and ecological restoration specialists on large scale projects, so they have no retail space. Every other year they host an open house, which includes tours, educational sessions, and a native plant sale.
What About Home Improvement Stores?
Typically, the larger chain home improvement stores do not carry many native plants. They might occasionally carry cultivars of native plants. Sometimes called “nativars,” these are plants that have been bred to bring out certain features, such as a brighter flower color. These plants typically have less genetic diversity and might not provide the same value to wildlife that true native species provide.
Where NOT to Get Native Plants
It may be tempting to relocate a native wildflower or two from a park or other local habitat, but that isn’t helping our local wildlife, and it may be illegal. Our park land has been set aside to protect plants and animals, and it does that most effectively when it has as many native plants as possible. Many of our parks face challenges from invasive species. As our staff works to eradicate them, unnecessary reduction to our native plant populations could make that eradication more difficult. Always be respectful to private property owners. A few years ago, I had a small patch of blue irises on my own property, barely noticeable among the surrounding vegetation near the road. But someone did notice them and probably assumed that these irises would not be missed. In fact, I had been collecting the seed from these plants, trying to expand the population into other areas on our property. I was quite dismayed to find the car tracks leading to the area, and an empty hole where they had been dug up and stolen. Some landowners might allow seed collection but never take plants or seed without a landowner’s permission.
Beware of “Wildflower” Seed Packets
The word “wildflower” does not mean native. While some of the nurseries mentioned above may offer high quality native seed packets that can help you start a small native garden, there are also many seed packets marketed as wildflowers, that contain mostly non-native plants. Some of them may even contain invasive species. They may be advertised as a “Midwest Wildflower” mix, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are native to the Midwest. It may just mean that they can grow in the Midwest.
The native landscaping resources offered by these nurseries and groups can provide a solid foundation of native plant knowledge to help you get started on your own native landscape. Stay tuned to this blog and our interpretive program schedule for more information about our native plants.
Nursery Contact Information & Other Resources
Bernacchi’s Oak Valley Greenhouse
5656 S. 500 W.
LaPorte, IN 46350
1-219-363-0303
The Botany Shop
909 Portage Avenue
South Bend, Indiana 46616
1-574-213-2768
Naturally Native Nursery
20525 Johnson Rd,
South Bend, IN 46614
1-419-833-2020
Prairie Nursery, Inc.
P.O. Box 306
Westfield, WI 53964
1-800-476-9453
Prairie Moon Nursery
Winona, MN
1-866-417-8156
Stantec Native Plant Nursery
1-866-782-6832
The Indiana Native Plant Society is a great source of information on native plants. Among other resources, they have a list of Indiana native plant nurseries.
