Woodland nurseries you need to know about

Nurseries specializing in Woodland plants

It’s not always easy to find Woodland plants in your local nurseries. Even if they do carry one or two native woodland plants, there’s no guarantee the plants were not harvested from the wild or that they will do well in your area.

In the past few years since writing the original article, more and more nurseries are carrying more native and woodland plants. In fact, most nurseries are recognizing the move toward more natural and native plants, whether they would be considered “woodland” plants or more sunny meadow-style plants.

Buying from reputable local nurseries is always the best choice, but when they don’t carry what you are looking for or lack the expertise to help you in your Woodland endeavours, there is no shame tracking down nurseries that specialize in hard-to-find native plants.

Here are four that know their stuff (two American-based and two Canadian). All are working hard to offer the best native plants possible. Please recognize that transporting plants across borders is often very difficult or impossible.

Fernwood Nursery & Gardens (U.S.)

Rick and Denise Sawyer have been running “Maine’s Shadiest Nursery” since 2012 in Montville, Maine. Their nursery specializes in native and Woodland plants hardy to their area.

They are proud to say they have one of the largest collections of shade tolerant plant collections in New England, many of which are propagated at the nursery. Display beds at the nursery help demonstrate how the plants can best be grown and grouped together aesthetically.

Wild native showy lady slippers can be difficult to grow. They can be almost impossible to find at regular nurseries, but they are available through responsible specialty growers.

They do not appear to do mail-order, which is unfortunate for those living outside their area. Their down-to-earth blog, documenting life at the nursery is a good read with lots of interesting tidbits for the Woodland gardener. You can find their website at fernwoodnursery.com

Big-time hosta lovers, their website lists close to 20 with good descriptions of each. What really caught my eye, however, was the Cypripedium retinae or Showy lady slipper which they feature in a beautiful photograph showing a massive grouping on their website planted with Maidenhair fern. A glorious combination.

Other featured plants include:

Trillium grandiflorum flora plena – this double flowering great white trillium prefers a sweeter soil and more sun than most trilliums. Being sterile, the flowers bloom longer than the single and then turn from white to pink.

Sanguinaria canadense multiplex – a double flowering form of our native bloodroot that blooms a little later and much longer than the single. Grows to 6″ and tolerates drier shade.

Anemonopsis macrophylla – a wonderful Japanese woodlander with nodding lilac and white flowers on 3′ stems in late summer.

Anemonella thalictroides – ‘Snowflake’ A 6″ double flowering selection of our native. Two months of bloom beginning April/May.

Convallaria ‘Cream da Mint’ – larger leaves have gold edges on green centers with a glaucus coating, especially in the spring.

Convallaria ‘Fernwood’s Golden Slippers’ – leaves are all gold with white flowers and red fruit. Not as aggressive as most Lily-of-the-Valley.

Great Lakes Orchids (U.S. Mail order)

Is a family owned tissue culture laboratory and licensed nursery specializing in hardy terrestrial orchids. You read that right. Their orchids are grown in a laboratory using tissue culture techniques. No worries here about wild-dug orchids.

Check them out at greatlakeorchids.com

In fact, this nursery is devoted to the One Test Tube at a Time Initiative, established to share their “services, laboratory, seedlings, plants, and expertise to help save endangered orchid populations.”

There are diminishing plant populations growing in various habitats and areas. For a number of reasons these plant populations are unable to re-establish themselves or fall outside of funding sources that would allow them to remain protected or undisturbed. We would like to see the return to thriving orchid populations for the benefit and enjoyment of all.”

They offer via-mailorder a large variety of orchids both native and non-native selections, including Lady Slipper Orchids, Chinese orchids and European fringed orchids.

Their website says they are branching out with select hardy perennials and bog plants.

Besides their great work, here is the real reason I have included Great Lakes Orchids in this list: The sites Growing Tips for raising Cypripediums is first rate. If you already have native Lady Slippers in your woodland or hope to acquire them at some point soon, you have to bookmark this site and study these growing tips.

If you live in the United States, consider supporting this group by purchasing some of their plants.

Ontario Native Plants (Cda mail order)

And now a plug for newcomer and local mail-order nursery, Ontario Native Plants. A gardening friend and I decided to place an order with this Hamilton-Ontario area online provider of native trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers and were pleasantly surprised by not only the product we received but their professional approach. Packaging was first rate. The website says they deliver anywhere across the province of Ontario.

If their website onplants.ca is any indication of how their business will grow in the future, we can expect big things from this nursery. Their 2020 catalogue lists about 100 products. In addition, they have a newsletter notifying regular customers of promotions and native gardening tips.

Since the initial writing of this post, Ontario Native Plants have certainly grown and now offer a huge variety of top-notch native plants to Ontario Gardeners. Their 2023 catalogue can be seen here. Get your orders in early spring for best delivery dates.

For my full story on this outstanding provider of native plants, be sure to check out my posts here.

Included in the list of individual plants are groups of plants packaged together that offer, for example, high-colour impact, fall beauty, as well as shady and sunny rain garden packs. There is a fern package, a pollinator pack and a Prairie pack. As an example, the Sun Lovers pack in the 2020 catalogue includes 12 plants made up of 2 plants from 6 species.

The website is extremely informative breaking down the native plants into light requirements, moisture requirements and soil type. Well done.

This post is not sponsored by any of the above nurseries. As an affiliate marketer with Amazon or other marketing companies, I earn money from qualifying purchases.