What are Native Plants?

We define native plants as plants that occur naturally within a given location or region without human intervention.

We refer to these naturally occurring plants as “straight species.” Acer saccharum, sugar maple, is a straight species native to our region. We use the term “nativars” for natural variants selected from the straight species. Acer saccharum ‘Legacy’ is a native cultivar or nativar. It was found and introduced by a nurseryman in Illinois who noticed it had a symmetric crown and glossy, tatter-resistant leaves.

We also offer some cultivars of native plants intentionally bred for certain desirable traits like compact habit, increased flowering, colorful fall foliage, etc. Aronia melanocarpa Low Scape Mound® is one such example.

 

See all our Natives