As public demand for native plants continues to grow, gardeners now have a snapshot of where to find native plants in the Roanoke area.
Members of the Roanoke Master Gardeners, Roanoke Master Naturalists, Blue Ridge Wildflower Society, Plant SWVA Natives, and other dedicated gardeners have surveyed all independent general nurseries, not including big box stores, within the Roanoke Valley who offer native plants for sale.
The Roanoke Valley Nursery Survey is a project to encourage the sale of more native plants by local garden centers. The groups hope the survey will promote the value of native plants, encourage the public to ask for more native plants, and encourage garden centers to prompt their suppliers to grow more and a wider variety of native plants.
The survey was conducted in Spring 2022 to include plants native to the SWVA mountain region, as well as some plants native to nearby regions, such as North Carolina and the eastern portion of Virginia.
The survey includes cultivars (cultivated varieties of native plants) offered for sale. Each cultivar was evaluated by the team to determine whether the cultivar appeared to have a similar ecological benefit for pollinators. These results were then compiled for the benefit of the public. The survey results and more information can be found here:
https://www.plantvirginianatives.org/native-plant-nursery-survey. Results will be updated as new information is received.
Other groups are welcome to use the materials developed for this project to conduct a survey in their area. For more information, contact Sharon Burnham at 540-343-0080 or at [email protected].
