Great Resources

Have you ever been to a garden center or nursery looking for a native plant, only to be told they don’t carry it.  Then you search another nursery,  another garden center, and another, and another  –  in an endless, futile search for a plant that is supposed to be indigenous to your area!  If you are shopping for natives, you have likely had this experience.

On the other end of the spectrum, you may have seen non-native invasive plants proudly displayed at the local nursery – you know, the ones that are notoriously problematic, seemingly intent on taking over natural areas as well as our gardens.  How can it be easier to find a Japanese Barberry than a Purple-Flowering Raspberry?

It’s time to take action with this brilliant idea from the Maryland Native Plant Society – “Shopper’s Protest Cards.”   There are two cards – one for each of the above situations.  Both can be downloaded from the Society’s website and edited for your own state.

The front of the first card reads:

I use Maryland native plants in my garden.  Today I was looking for:

___________________________________________

If you stock this in the future, please contact me:

(see over)

Back of card:

NOTE TO RETAILER: The consumer who left this card is one of many Marylanders who are eliminating invasive exotic plants from their gardens in favor of native plants.  They are following recommendations of federal, state, and local government agencies, and environmental groups.  For further information, and to receive a list of recommended native plants and suppliers of nursery-propagated stock, please contact the Maryland Native Plant Society at P. O. Box 4877, Silver Spring, MD, 20914, 301-949 2818.  Or visit our web site at www.mdflora.org.

Thank you for your interest.

Brilliant!  No doubt that a pile up of these cards at the local garden center will get the attention of management as they ponder: “maybe this native plant movement is real”  and “I’ll bet we can make money if we sell native plants.”

Just spotted Burning Bush for sale at the local nursery?  Just say “no” with this handy little card:

I use Maryland native plants in my garden.  I noticed that you stock the following plant(s), known to be invasive in natural areas:

(see over)

The back of this card is the same as the back of the first card – clear and to the point:

NOTE TO RETAILER: The consumer who left this card is one of many Marylanders who are eliminating invasive exotic plants from their gardens in favor of native plants.  They are following recommendations of federal, state, and local government agencies, and environmental groups.  For further information, and to receive a list of recommended native plants and suppliers of nursery-propagated stock, please contact the Maryland Native Plant Society at P. O. Box 4877, Silver Spring, MD, 20914, 301-949 2818.  Or visit our web site at www.mdflora.org.

Thank you for your interest.

Thank you, Maryland Native Plant Society for this wonderful shopping tool!

From Kim Eierman at EcoBeneficial!