Native plants - what's All The buzz About?
3 Reasons to Grow Native Plants
1. Natives provide an important food source for pollinators.
While it's true that non-native flowers and cultivars also attract and feed pollinators, natives often produce more pollen and nectar as well as serving as host plants for butterfly larvae.
2. Native plants provide more food for wildlife.
The benefits of including natives in your landscape go far beyond helping bees. Native plants are able to support up to 20% more insect life than hybrids and non-natives. This insect life in turn feeds a variety of birds and other wildlife.
3. Native plants are easy to grow!
Properly chosen native plants will thrive in your landscape with less fuss because they're used to taking care of themselves -- after all, they've been doing it for millennia. Choosing plants that are native not only to your area, but to your soil type and sun exposure will help ensure your natives thrive.
Why Buy natives from Raintree?
For starters, our natives are super local!
At Raintree Garden Center, we grow our native plants from seed, most of which we collect on our own property. (Our Common Milkweed is grown from seeds collected in our front ditch.) You can't get any more local than that! When you take a plant home, it will be the first time that plant has been in a vehicle. All of this means our natives are eco-friendly and naturally adapted to growing in the Eau Claire area.
Our natives are pollinator safe
We never use neonicotinoids or other harmful pesticides on our natives (or other perennials). There are always plenty of dragonflies and butterflies around our flowers and sometimes you'll even find little Monarch caterpillars on the milkweeds.
Our natives are affordable
Many of our natives are available in quart pots. These small pots are easier to plant and cheaper for you.
Here's What We're Growing This Year!
Orange Butterfly Weed
Pink Swamp Milkweed
Common Milkweed
Purple Coneflower
Prairie Coreopsis
Lance Leaf Coreopsis
Joe Pye Weed
Purple Prairie Clover
Yellow Coneflower (Ratibida sp)
Native Monarda
Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)
Blue Flag Iris
Sky Blue Aster
Big Bluestem Grass