Our Retail Nursery Opening Day- We Can't Wait!
On May 22nd our retail nursery will open for the year. It will once again be filled with locally grown Minnesota native plants. It will house thousands of prairie, woodland, wetland, and lakeshore plants ready to provide a variety of functions for our natural areas. Conveniently located off of highway 12 in Maple Plain, 10 minutes west of Wayzata, our retail nursery is just a short drive from the Twin Cities! Here are just a few reasons why you need to come check us out this year:
Our retail nursery carries over 100 species of flowers and grasses that are native to Minnesota! This species selection will allow you to plant natives in any gardening situation.
Have a shady wooded area? Try our Columbine, Thimbleweed, or Zigzag Goldenrod. Have a dry sunny area you want to turn into a prairie? We have Butterfly Milkweed, Pale Purple Coneflower, Rough Blazing Star, Prairie Tickseed, and all the grass species you'll need! Be it wet or dry, sunny or shady, we have a variety of species that will flourish at even the most challenging sites. We also have several species of native trees and shrubs available!
Our cheerful and knowledgeable staff will help you make 
your important plant selections. Not sure what plants will do best in your specific soil types, moisture conditions, sun or shade? Do you want to know which species will flower during the fall? Or what plants will attract the most bees and butterflies? Our retail nursery is staffed by some great native plant experts. Shirley Mah Kooyman is a Master Gardener and Vice- President of the Minnesota Native Plant Society. She will give you all the information you want about native plants! Jill Langer is our nursery manager with over 20 years of native plant gardening experience. They both know the ins and outs of a successful native planting and will ensure you walk away with plants that will meet your specific project needs!
Our plants are locally grown, healthy, robust, and most importantly, pesticide free! Every year in our retail nursery we find dozens of monarch caterpillars munching away on our milkweed plants. Milkweed is their host plant and we let them dine away on as much as they want. These little guests appreciate the free lunch without the threat of harmful pesticides, such as neonicotinoids. The many beautiful species of butterflies and bees that fly in and out of the retail nursery every year also enjoy the wide variety of flowers.
Please make plans to come visit us for our opening day May 22nd! We will also be open May 29th-31st where Heather Holm, author of Pollinators of Native Plants, will be signing her book. Hours are from 10am to 4pm. Check out our website for other sale dates and hours this season. Don't forget to bring your coupon for a free Butterfly Milkweed Plant! (See the bottom of this newsletter).
