Eco-conscious gardeners know that planting native plant species provides essential food for local wildlife, in migration and in breeding seasons.
D&R Greenway Land Trust’s Native Plant Sales will be held Thursday, April 10 from noon to 4 p.m.; Friday, April 11 from noon to 3 p.m.; and Saturday, April 12 from 9 a.m. to noon at D&R Greenway’s native plant nursery.
A tiger swallowtail butterfly on swamp milkweed.
The native plant nursery is adjacent to the Johnson Education Center at 1 Preservation Place, Princeton. There is no charge to attend, and no need to register.
Along with native wildflowers such as cardinal flower, milkweed, wild geranium, rattlesnake master, wild blue indigo, nodding onion, foam flower and native ferns, the nursery offers native shrubs, trees, and grasses.
Native shrubs include buttonbush, native viburnums, elderberry, winterberry and blueberry. Native trees include serviceberry, pawpaw, magnolia and oak.
D&R Greenway Land Trust’s plants are grown from locally sourced seeds or starter plants and are free of harmful nicotinoid insecticides. A full catalog is available online.
“We are excited to invite the public for the seasonal opening of our native plant nursery and offer plants that sustain our local ecosystem,” said D&R Greenway’s director of land stewardship, Tina Notas.
Home native habitats contribute to a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem. Of prime importance is the relationship of native pollinators with New Jersey’s native plants. Nectar from native milkweed provides the right energy source to adult butterflies, and, importantly, the milkweed’s leaves also provide the right food for caterpillars to grow.
That special relationship makes native milkweed a host plant for monarch butterflies. Monarch butterflies could not thrive without milkweed. Turning the home garden into natural habitat fosters these crucial partnerships, such as monarch and milkweed. Native plants also require less in terms of irrigation and do not require fertilizer.
D&R Greenway Land Trust has preserved more than 20,000 acres of land in central New Jersey, fulfilling its mission to preserve a network of natural lands and open space accessible to the public. The land trust is committed to inspiring a conservation ethic through all its programs, including increasing awareness of the benefits of native species. Habitat restoration projects began on D&R Greenway lands. Native plants’ usefulness extends even beyond home gardens to local schools, municipalities and other nonprofits.
The Johnson Education Center, a circa 1900 restored barn at One Preservation Place, Princeton, is D&R Greenway’s home.