Native Plant Seed Sources and Resources
I hope this knowledge base will benefit you on your journey with these amazing native plants.
Nurseries & Seed Companies
I have spent many hours searching for sources of native plant seeds and starts. The search can be overwhelming. It is my hope that this list will help connect you with the perfect native plants for your yard, garden, or farm. I’ve personally ordered from all of these nurseries except for Possibility Place.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources Tree Seedling Nurseries
Prairie Moon Nursery
Toadshade Wildflower Farm
Indigenous Landscapes
Companion Plants
Edible Landscaping
Strictly Medicinal Seeds
Possibility Place Nursery
Cold Stream Farm
Gurneys
Native Plant Educational E-Resources
E-resources to help you find out more about Indiana native plants.
Indiana Native Plant Society
USDA Plants Database
NWF Native Plant Finder
Native American Ethnobotany Database
Native Land Map
Book Recommendations
Some of my favorite books about native plants, agricultural history, and alternative agriculture.
“Nature’s Garden”, by Samuel Thayer
“Native Plant Agriculture”, by Indigenous Landscapes
“Braiding Sweetgrass”, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
“The Unsettling of America”, by Wendell Berry
“Iwígara: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science“, by Enrique Salmón
“1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus”, by Charles C. Mann
“Grow Fruit Naturally”, by Lee Reich
“Wild Food Plants of Indiana”, by Alan McPherson
My Favorite Edible Native Plants For Gardens
If you are here because you attended my talk about edible native plants, welcome! In case you didn’t have a notepad with you, here’s that list again for your reference. Also, I hope you’ll stay a while and read some educational articles from the blog and that you’ll join our community on Facebook or Instagram.
- Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana).
Seeds & Plants Available from Prairie Moon
. - Goosefoot (Chenopodium album var striatum, Chenopodium berlandieri, Chenopodium capitatum).
Seeds for Goosefoot aka Red Aztec Spinach aka Chenopodium berlandieri can be purchased at Strictly Medicinals.
Seeds for strawberry Blite aka Strawberry Spinach aka Chenopodium capitatum can be purchased at Prairie Moon and Baker Creek.
. - Slender Nettle (Urtica dioica subsp. gracilis).
Seeds available from Toadshade.
. - Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa, Monarda didyma, Monarda puncata, and others)
Seeds available through Prairie Moon and Toadshade.
. - Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) & Blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis).
Black Raspberry aka Rubus occidentalis plants can be purchased from Possibility Place.
Blackberry aka Rubus allegheniensis seeds can be purchased from Toadshade.
These plants are both pretty plentiful in our area, so it’s also possible to ask a friend for a start and save your money!
. - Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus).
If you find this for sale as food at a fancy grocery store like Whole Foods, you can plant the tubers directly in the ground to grow them. Otherwise you can purchase tubers sold especially for planting at Edible Landscaping, Companion Plants, or Gurneys.
. - Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
Find it at your favorite garden seed source. - American Hazelnut (Corylus americana).
Saplings available from Indiana State Tree Seedling Nursery, Cold Stream Farm, Edible Landscaping, and Gurneys.
. - Pawpaw (Asimina triloba).
Saplings available from the Indiana State Tree Seedling Nursery, Cold Stream Farm, Edible Landscaping, Companion Plants, and Gurneys.
. - Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis).
Saplings available from Cold Stream Farm.
. - American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana).
Saplings available from Indiana State Tree Seedling Nursery, Cold Stream Farm, Edible Landscaping, Gurneys.
. - Pecan (Carya illinoinensis).
Saplings available from Indiana State Tree Seedling Nursery, Cold Stream Farm, and Gurneys.
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Exceptional Nutcrackers For Exceptional Nuts
Two really great nutcrackers that I personally use on native Indiana nuts. These two nutcrackers solved problems for me that no other nutcracker could solve. They are both made by small independent businesses, they are both expensive and solidly built, and they are both often sold out. I will not receive a commission if you buy either of these nutcrackers. I am simply offering this information in case you find yourself frustrated by the insufficiency of all other nutcrackers, as I did.
Grandpa’s Goodie Getter. This monster nutcracker makes easy work of cracking some of our super hard-shelled native nuts. I haven’t found any other nutcracker that can break open a black walnut or a shagbark hickory nut except for this one. If you can’t afford it or if they’re out of stock right now then don’t dismay….a hammer works too.
Davebilt #43 Nutcracker. This is a great nutcracker that cracks large quantities of (not super hard-shelled) nuts using a hopper and hand crank. I personally use it to crack large quantities of acorns. You must first cure the acorns by drying them for a few weeks to a month, but after that drying period, they crack beautifully in this. I haven’t personally tried it for pecans and hazelnuts yet, but it comes highly recommended for those nuts. If you can’t afford this nutcracker, you can use a hammer or a regular cheap nutcracker on acorns, pecans, and hazelnuts. It will just take longer to do it that way.